Hazle Twp. supervisors consider first step in developer's request for LERTA tax breaks

Apr. 13—A developer who wants to build warehouses on mine scarred land between Beaver Brook and Hazle Village in Hazle Twp. asked the township supervisors Monday to deem the 360-acre project site "deteriorated" so that it can qualify for tax abatements.

The supervisors accepted testimony from Jeff Randolph, a managing partner with BlueCup Ventures LLC, at a public hearing about why some 360 acres on the east and west sides of Route 309 where BlueCup wants to build at least three warehouses meets the definition of mine-scarred lands and should be characterized as "deteriorated" under the state's Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act.

Getting a "deteriorated" or distressed designation is the first step in applying to the township, Luzerne County and Hazleton Area School District for 10 years of tax breaks on improvements at the site, Randolph said earlier Monday.

With testimony focused on the property designation, Randolph discussed few details about the actual abatement, but said that BlueCup seeks a tax reduction of 65% that would apply only to improvements and not the land.

If approved, the abatement would be for 10 years.

The firm would pay roughly $15,000 in current local, county and school taxes on the land each year as well as 35% of property taxes on new construction, he said.

The board of supervisors took no action on the land designation Monday, but township solicitor Chris Slusser said the supervisors will consider the request at a special meeting April 23.

After that step is completed, the supervisors could then vote on the LERTA abatement, Slusser said.

Randolph said the warehouses would be built on the east side of Route 309 near a culm bank and on the west side of the highway.

BlueCup is courting an automated cold storage food plant on the east side of the road while at least two other buildings would accommodate warehouses that could also have automated features, he said.

"There's not anything close to minimum wage," he said of prospective jobs.

Township resident Anne Marie Shelby, who lives near the project site, shared concerns for the impacts that the project would have on traffic and nearby homeowners who are already dealing with odors from a business at a nearby industrial park as well as two other larger industrial projects that are proposed a short distance from their neighborhood.

"My point is we're losing our identity," Shelby said.

Shelby also questioned the tax break, but supervisors Chairman Jim Montone said that township residents are already getting a "break" because of revenue generated from developers like Randolph who invest in the community.

"We are looking at three pages of streets that need to be overlayed," Montone said while holding up a document. "It will cost over $3.5 million and we're looking at ways we can do this work. You want to know what helps to pay for this work? Guys like (Randolph)."

Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority board member Mark Rabo also asked township officials to consider impacts the project will have on traffic and housing.

Township Engineer Joe Calabrese said that state transportation officials have asked BlueCup and two other development companies to incorporate other nearby projects into their traffic studies.

BlueCup's project is one of several eyed locally.

At least seven other developers have pitched plans for large industrial and warehousing projects throughout Greater Hazleton.

About a mile north of BlueCup's site, Blue Creek Investments wants to build a 1.45 million square foot warehouse/distribution center on 95 acres off Route 309 near the Birch Knoll development in Hazleton.

A short distance away, Hazleton Creek Commerce Center Holdings proposes five massive buildings for wholesale, warehousing and manufacturing on 366 acres. Most of that land is in Hazleton, off Buttonwood and Church streets, and a small portion is in Hazle Twp.

Hazleton Creek secured a 10-year LERTA abatement for its project, which is expected to generate between $3.5 million and $6 million in annual tax revenue when that tax break expires.

Another nearby project has been pitched by Mericle Commercial Real Estate, which wants to build a business park on about 1,100 acres in Hazle Twp. that are bound by Interstate 81 and routes 924, 309 and 424.

In Kline Twp., Brewster Development Co. wants to build five warehouses on 347 acres off the McAdoo exit of Interstate 81 while Warrior Trail Properties/Niagara pitched plans for a bottled beverage manufacturing facility on nearly 92 acres off Timberline Drive in Humboldt Industrial Park Northwest, Hazle Twp.

In West Hazleton, One Trinity Real Estate cleared land for a 600,300 square foot warehouse behind the former Hills store in Valmont Plaza and wants to redevelop another building at the plaza that formerly housed Hills and Ames.

Site Services Group reached out to Hazleton City Authority about possibly relocating water lines for a warehouse that would extend east from the water filtration plant toward New Coxeville.

Luzerne County Council will review BlueCup's proposal at a work session Tuesday.

Contact the writer: sgalski@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3586