UPPER MOUNT BETHEL TWP., Pa. – A public hearing pertaining to the sprawling River Pointe Logistics Center that has spanned several months has ended with a win for the project’s developer, Lou Pektor.
The Upper Mount Bethel Township Zoning Hearing Board voted 3-2 Thursday night to grant River Pointe Logistics Center LLC the special exception it was seeking to install drip sewage disposal fields on the property.
The fields were requested for two parcels, the "Angle Property," and the "Potomac Property."
The system is part of River Pointe’s bigger wastewater and sewer management plan for the industrial development. Waste would go into a series of treatment plants on the property.
The system would be run by the Upper Mount Bethel Township Municipal Authority, which was created specifically to manage sewer issues pertaining to River Pointe. The township does not have a public sewer system.
The approval from the Zoning Hearing Board came at the conclusion of the 11th session of the public hearing, which began in February. It passed with seven conditions, including requiring well testing for residents who live near the drip fields.
It’s possible the decision to approve the exception could be appealed. “We’ll have to consult with (our attorney) to see what our next step is,” said Dave Freeman, vice chairman of the Upper Mount Bethel board of supervisors.
Regardless, River Pointe LLC would still need to secure permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
River Pointe is an 800-acre project along the Delaware River, near River Road, Potomac Street and Route 611. Its master plan covering 8.5 million square feet was approved last year. More approvals will be needed for individual parcels as tenants sign on the dotted line.
Pektor said he’s courting several major companies, whose names he can’t disclose: “We’re under very tight non-disclosure agreements for multiple tenants.”
When pressed for details, Pektor did say negotiations have involved three “state-of-the art plastic recyclers,” as well as two “large food companies that are national names,” and fabricating companies that make various structural products.
He also said there’s been a lot of interest from the artificial intelligence community. “The AI industry has changed our world in the last 24 months,” said Pektor. “The AI industry is out looking for sites with high capacity to provide electricity. We have that capacity. We have a very unusual amount of capacity relative to any competitive site that the AI industry would look at.”
It’s not clear where negotiations stand with any of the interested companies.
