New Stanton nixes overnight work at warehouse project

Night construction work won’t be allowed at the site of a 1 million-square-foot warehouse being built along the New Stanton-Hempfield border.

The New Stanton Zoning Hearing Board this week denied a request from builder Layton Construction Co. for a zoning variance to allow work after 9 p.m. and before 6 a.m.

Melvin Steele Jr. and Dean Clark opposed the variance. Member Henry Moore was absent.

The board opposed the request because the contractor wasn’t able to demonstrate that overnight work was necessary, board solicitor John Sweeney said.

The $125 million warehouse will be off Glenn Fox Road, near the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s New Stanton exit.

Layton Construction wanted to work overnight three or four days a week as truckloads of concrete were to be delivered to the site, said Andrew Gerbus, Layton’s project manager. That would require an additional 100 to 120 trucks per day traveling to the site, in addition to the 40 to 60 trucks now entering the property, Gerbus said.

Concrete-hauling trucks would be arriving every five to six minutes “on a good night,” said Joel Isaksen, lead superintendent for Layton.

Layton said it needed the overnight work hours because there is insufficient space at the site during the day — 200 to 300 workers are there from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. — and to keep the project on schedule, Gerbus said. Site preparation began in September.

The borough asked the board to grant the variance but with conditions that no earth moving, drilling or blasting occur during overnight hours, said Jeff McLaughlin, borough zoning officer and manager. The borough approved plans for the project in October 2021.

Tom Libengood of Glenn Fox Road was among the residents who opposed the night work. He said there are safety concerns, including the widening of the road to allow two trucks to pass at the same time.

Jerry Smith, who said his Glenn Fox Road property is 100 yards from the construction site, asked the board to quash overnight truck deliveries.

“I hear it (noise) from before daylight to after dark,” Smith said.

Hempfield supervisor Bill Bretz said a truck driving to the site every six minutes would be a tremendous imposition on nearby residents.

Hempfield planning and zoning director Patrick Karnash said neighbors should have a “reasonable expectation” to live without prolonged intrusions.

Karnash said sticking to the 6 a.m. to to 9 p.m. work schedule will not inflict an “unnecessary hardship” on the company, nor does it meet any of the five criteria for granting the variance, Karnash said.

Mattthew Virgin, a senior vice president for SunCap Property, said he anticipates the warehouse, which covers 22 acres, will be completed in about a year. The tenant hasn’t been made public because of a confidentiality agreement.