Bethlehem Township has cited 18 reasons for rejecting a warehouse proposed for Freemansburg Avenue, among them noise and a limited traffic study, two issues cited by many residents.

Dallas-based Trammell Crow has proposed an 866,350-square-foot warehouse for 1600 Freemansburg Ave., a property that straddles the border of the township and the Borough of Freemansburg.

The township Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 on Jan. 15 to reject the plan.

At that meeting, Commissioner Michael Hudak said that legal action might follow the rejection, but he said the public does not want a warehouse on the already busy road.

The property was once a quarry and is now used as a dump.

The township is obligated to respond with a formal letter within 10 days of the rejection of a plan.

Trammell Crow declined to comment.

69 News has contacted Catherine Durso, an Allentown attorney representing the company, for comment.

In addition to noise and the limits of traffic study, the rejection letter includes notes about environmental concerns, including vehicles leaking fluids; potential threats to public health, including toxic substances, traffic hazards and pollution, and the failure to provide a “tree study.”

The township letter also includes a note about lack of tree plantings, and a failure to provide evidence of berms that meet zoning standards. There are also comments about failure to provide evidence for access for fire trucks, a lack of storm sewer calculations, and other shortcomings.

Bethlehem Township residents have attended a series of public hearings on the plan to object, with some claiming additional traffic on Freemansburg Avenue would put lives at risk.

Trammell Crow is also developing two warehouses on the site of the former Dutch Springs water park in Lower Nazareth Township and Bethlehem Township.

Trammell Crow is a division of CBRE Group, the world’s biggest commercial real estate firm. In fiscal 2022, CBRE’s revenue was $30.8 billion.

Shares in CBRE Group are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CBRE. At 3:37 p.m. Thursday, the share price was $86.74, giving the company a market capitalization (share price times number of shares outstanding) of $26.4 billion.