Plan for 725-acre industrial park in Slate Belt clears major hurdle despite opposition

Upper Mount Bethel Township supervisors passed an ordinance Monday creating a Neighborhood Improvement District for the proposed River Pointe Logistics Park bordered by Route 611, Potomac Street, River Road and Pine Tree Lane.

The newly formed River Pointe Neighborhood Improvement District also includes the township-owned Potomac Street Community Park.

A NID is a limited area within a municipality where a special assessment fee is levied on all designated properties, except tax-exempt properties like the park.

River Pointe owner Lou Pektor has proposed building up to 15 industrial and commercial buildings in the development spread across 725 acres.

Pektor has previously said the NID would allow the development to collect money internally without having to rely on surrounding residents’ tax money to pay for expenses like roadway upkeep, snow plowing and other needs.

“This NID gives us the ability to make sure the costs of this industrial park are paid for not utilizing income from the people, which is you,” Supervisors’ Chairman Martin Pinter, who voted in favor of the ordinance, told the crowd at Monday’s meeting.

Money collected could also be used to purchase fire department equipment needed to handle 100-foot-tall buildings that may be built and could also pay for ambulance services. Fire and other emergency equipment would be available for township-wide use in addition to the development, Pektor said.

Supervisor Anthony DeFranco said the park’s inclusion in the NID allows the township to benefit from NID money.

“The park will be a state-of-the-art park in the future,” DeFranco said.

At two previous hearings on the NID and at Monday’s supervisors’ meeting, there was heavy objection from residents regarding the creation of the NID and the inclusion of the park.

Supervisor John Bermingham made a motion Monday to table the vote until the township could negotiate different terms to the NID agreement.

Bermingham suggested the agreement should remove the park from the NID’s borders but include an annual donation from NID that would go toward park improvements.

Law requires a NID management association, or NIDMA, be created to handle decisions regarding the special district.

According to the adopted plan, the township may appoint two members to the NIDMA board of directors but tax-paying property owners—currently River Pointe—will appoint three directors, which gives the developer majority control of the board.

Bermingham suggested the agreement be renegotiated to give the township more control over the NIDMA board.

Resident Richard Wilford-Hunt said the supervisors should not trust the developer to make the right decision for the township.

“The park belongs to us, not Pektor,” Wilford-Hunt said.

However, Bermingham’s motion to table for renegotiation died without a second.

While the NIDMA would have control over NID money collected for the park, the NID agreement states it cannot take control of the park itself.

“It is not the intent of the RP-NID to own or control the Township Park Property,” the agreement states. “Additionally, the Township shall not at any time, sell, dispose of, or otherwise transfer its ownership interest in and to the Township Park Property.”

The ordinance passed 4-1 with supervisors Pinter, DeFranco, Robert Teel and David Due voting for it and Bermingham voting against it.

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