Nestle spurned by Eldred Township planning board
By Howard Frank Pocono Record Writer
The Eldred Township Planning Commission unanimously recommended the township’s Zoning Hearing Board deny Nestle’s application to extract water in the township for its Deer Park brand.
The 24-page planning commission document, dated March 18, details specific concerns for the Nestle project.
What’s different about this document is that it takes a point-by-point approach to the results Nestle presented in its application to the Zoning Hearing Board. The commission report references regulations to support its conclusions and poses questions not answered in the application.
“It’s very pinpointed and we have questions, whether they are pointed to Nestle or our attorneys,” planning commission Chairman Robert Boileau said.
The planning commission issues advisories to the Zoning Hearing Board and township supervisors. It has no decision-making function in the approval of zoning permits, although it could be part of the zoning board's information gathering and the supervisors’ decisions regarding special exceptions should a permit be issued.
The document said that, based on public comment made to the planning commission, the proposed use for water extraction is not in harmony with the purposes, goals, objectives and standards of the township's Comprehensive Plan and all other ordinances of the township.
The application, according to the advisory, fails to comply with zoning ordinance rules regarding multiple uses on a single lot. It addressed specific sections of the Joint Comprehensive Plans of the regional planning group CJERP. Chestnuthill, Jackson, Eldred, Ross and Polk townships are all members of the group.
The commission noted that Nestle’s project would have a “negative impact on current and future uses in the township and the desirability of residing and doing business in the township,” Boileau said. Adverse impacts on property values would result from the project, according to the advisory.
Among the commission’s other objections were the unsuitability of the site chosen by Nestle, which it said would result in a substantial, adverse effect on adjacent property, the character of the neighborhood and traffic conditions created by the trucks which will haul water from a nearby planned filling station about once an hour every day.
“A lot of the (Delaware River Basin Commission) and (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) concerns are about quality,” Boileau said. “Nestle’s application, if you read it, there’s nothing about quality. It’s all about extracting 150,000 to 200,000 gallons of water a day."
The advisory also addressed the 2014 zoning ordinance change allowing extraction as a special exemption use in certain commercial properties, including the one Nestle hopes to use. The commission said the project may impact public health and safety, and questioned the methods used to insert the language in the ordinance.
Other concerns include details like Nestle’s own test results of a 12 percent drop in water flow in an unnamed stream. Concerns were raised about the diminishing of water supplies to local residents.
Nestle Waters spokesman Eric Andreus said the company is confident that all of the comments and questions raised by the planning commission will be addressed in the zoning hearing process.
"We are disappointed that some of the comments appear to be based on misunderstandings of what is proposed in the application," he said. "During the hearing process, however, experts who conducted the studies and compiled the reports contained within the application will present their findings and demonstrate how our project complies with the Eldred Township Zoning Ordinance. We are confident they will fully address the questions relevant to their areas of expertise, and in doing so, answer the planning commission’s comments."
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