Churchill residents debate potential Amazon site during planning commission meeting

Details of a potential Amazon distribution site in Churchill were shared at a Borough Planning Commission meeting this week as debate continues to stir about the possible impact on the community.

Hillwood Development, a Texas-based group that has acquired land for Amazon in the region before, is the potential buyer of the 133-acre parcel that formerly housed the George Westinghouse Research Park near the Parkway East.

Hillwood has identified Amazon as the site’s potential occupant, according to the Churchill Borough website.

Some residents have raised worries about the plan for the site, which involves demolishing blighted buildings and constructing a four-and-a-half story, 2.6-million-square-foot distribution and logistics facility. One resident, Murray Bilby, created a website outlining an array of resident concerns. An online petition shows over 800 residents opposing the project.

Supporters say jobs and tax revenue outweigh any fears, pointing out the site has sat empty for years.

The development could bring more than 1,000 full-time jobs with benefits, according to the borough. Taxes from the development would include between $600,000 and $660,000 annually in property taxes for Churchill and between $2.3 million and $2.5 million in school taxes for the Woodland Hills School District, Lowell Mate, a member of Churchill’s Planning Commission, previously told the Tribune-Review.

But several residents have voiced a plethora of issues. Some said their residential area lacked the infrastructure to support an influx of traffic to and from the site. Others worried about pollution, destruction of trees and water drainage. Neighbors also worried about the possibility of constant light and noise emanating from the site.

During a four-hour planning commission meeting hosted via Zoom on Wednesday night, representatives of Hillwood Development shared a presentation to try and address those concerns.

The presentation said developers had provided studies on air quality, light, sound, traffic and parking, along with a tree survey, storm water management plan, retaining wall precedent images, sectional renderings and environmentally positive design criteria.

Gary Yorio, a Churchill resident, viewed the project as a positive.

“I support the Amazon project,” he said. “I support the possible excess of 1,000 jobs that will come to the community. I support the tax relief the project will bring that will help with our taxes.”

Though several residents said they feared pollutants that could be detrimental to the environment and their health, the Hillwood Development presentation showed results from an air quality impact analysis that said the potential development would not pose such threats.

“Our analysis demonstrates that both stationary and mobile sources of potential pollutants are expected to be well below applicable federal and county standards,” the presentation stated. “Our analysis demonstrates diesel emissions including particles from exhaust, tire wear, and brake wear are not expected to cause or exacerbate health conditions, such as asthma, for those persons living in nearby residential dwellings.”

They also provided a light study, which included light fixtures with shields to keep light from blinding nearby houses. After conducting multiple sound studies, they determined there was “no negative acoustical impact from on- or off-site operations.”

Borough Manager Alex Graziani told residents listening to the meeting that officials were giving proper attention to studying the impacts of the proposed development.

“We have a very large contingent of people that are reviewing these thousands of pages of studies and hundreds of maps,” he said. “Thousands of hours have gone into studying these and responding and making comments back.”

Several residents still expressed their opposition at the end of the meeting.

“A giant warehouse supported by thousands of vehicles in the center of a residential neighborhood is a public nuisance,” said Elizabeth Casman, a Churchill resident.

Others questioned the studies presented earlier in the meeting, and others criticized the fact that there have been no in-person meetings to discuss the proposal.

Graziani said local officials appreciated the public’s interest in the matter and encouraged residents to continue submitting written comments. Local officials had already received hundreds of written comments.

“This is something the borough council does not take lightly, nor does anyone on the planning commission take this lightly,” Graziani said. “This is a transformative change project proposal that is generational.”

Click here to view the plans.