Some Churchill residents oppose Amazon as neighbor despite potential for jobs, tax revenue

A group of Churchill residents are concerned about the impact of a potential Amazon distribution center in their small residential community.

The former site of the George Westinghouse Research Park, a 133-acre parcel located within Churchill Borough, could be developed into an Amazon property.

The potential buyer for the property is Hillwood Development, a Texas-based group that was responsible for acquiring land near Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay for an Amazon warehouse in 2019.

According to the Churchill Borough website, Hillwood Development has identified the end-user of the Churchill site as Amazon.

Churchill’s Planning Commission is scheduled to host a third Zoom meeting on the topic at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Borough Manager Alex Graziani confirmed that there is a pending land development application and a conditional use application from Hillwood Development and recognized that some residents have voiced concerns.

“The lengthy and detailed process Churchill Borough is in the middle of is intended to address Borough officials’ and residents’ concerns related to this massive proposal,” Graziani said.

The plan for the site involves demolishing blighted buildings on the lot and constructing a new four-and-a-half story, 2.6-million-square-foot distribution and logistics facility. The development could bring more than 1,000 full-time jobs with benefits, the borough wrote in a recent newsletter.

The idea of putting a large Amazon distribution center in the middle of a small residential borough doesn’t sit well with many residents.

“Our concern is this is a square peg in a round hole,” said Murray Bilby, a Churchill resident who opposes the project. “We don’t have in our residential area the infrastructure to support a distribution center.”

Bilby created a website outlining a plethora of concerns that he and other residents have about the proposed development. Bilby said he has no issue with Amazon. He opposes the concept of any large distribution center occupying the space.

“We want to develop the property, but it should be appropriate for a residential community,” he said, suggesting that shops, restaurants, office spaces or a hotel would be more suitable uses for the plot of land.

Tribune-Review

George Westinghouse Research and Technology Park in Churchill.

Steve Landay shared similar concerns. He grew up in Churchill and lives there today. He contends that the borough doesn’t have the infrastructure to support an influx of traffic as trucks travel to and from a distribution site in large numbers.

“There’s a group of us that are really trying to raise red flags about how this type of facility has never been put in residential neighborhoods before,” he said. “It doesn’t belong here. The existing infrastructure can’t support what we currently are experiencing, let alone trucks pulling out. It’s just ridiculous from the traffic point of view.”

Landay said many residents were concerned about what the construction would do to water drainage. The project would involve cutting down up to 1,000 mature trees and would increase the concrete footprint on the site, he said.

“People are concerned about water runoff, water drainage,” he said. “It’s personal. This is my backyard. This is where we live.”

Cathy Bordner said she lives 792 feet from the site. She, too, raised concerns about traffic congestion and environmental impacts.

“It really bugs me that we are working so hard to improve the environment, to protect the environment and then we let a company do something like this,” she said. “There’s so much green space there and we should be trying to protect that green space because of what it does for our water and air quality.”

She noted concerns about pollution and the light and noise that could emanate from the site day and night.

Landay said he realized redeveloping the site could bring in tax revenue, which would benefit the community. But he said other businesses could bring in tax money without bringing the potential problems he fears from an Amazon distribution center.

“We feel the negatives far outweigh the tax money we could use,” he said.

Taxes from such a 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.

“Amazon is a dynamic business and we are constantly exploring new locations,” Amazon spokesperson Andre Woodson said. “We weigh a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites to best serve customers, however, Amazon has a policy of not commenting on our future roadmap.”

Hillwood Development is required to submit detailed studies regarding “traffic, stormwater management, lighting, sound, air quality and overall environmental impacts,” Graziani said. Other state and county agencies are helping the borough review those studies. PennDOT, for example, will have to sign off on the traffic study, Graziani said.

“Public comment is welcomed, heard and considered,” he said.

But some residents said they don’t feel their wide-ranging concerns are being properly considered. Several residents mentioned not only traffic and stormwater concerns, but also noise, light and pollution. An online petition started by Churchill resident JB Moses has garnered nearly 500 signatures. In the online petition, Moses wrote that there is “no benefit that this can bring to the community of Churchill” and claimed some of his neighbors were considering leaving the community if the development was completed.

“It’s not David versus Goliath. It’s Minnie Mouse versus Goliath,” Bilby said. “We’re at a really serious disadvantage. All we can do is vocalize our objections to this project.”

Bordner said she is one of many residents who has expressed concerns and asked questions at virtual borough meetings on the subject. But the meetings are only held via Zoom during the covid-19 pandemic, which, she said, leaves some people with little access to technology unable to attend and doesn’t allow for as much discussion.

“The way the meetings are set up, there’s not really an exchange of information. If we ask questions or if we point out things that don’t seem right, they don’t answer the concerns. This should not have progressed to this point unless they had face-to-face meetings,” she said.

Graziani said he anticipates the Borough Planning Commission will table the proposal and make a final recommendation to the Borough Council in June. Borough Council will host a public hearing, he said, and may make its final decision in August or September.

“If the end-user is Amazon, please know that Amazon hired 500,000 workers since the start of the pandemic and is blanketing [the] nation with new construction building Amazon facilities,” Graziani said.