Step 5. Establish a set of land use codes specifically for commercial development and freight transportation

A disturbing trend in Pennsylvania is the prevalence of large, truck-only warehouses and distribution centers built in or near small towns outside the larger metropolitan areas (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Erie). Industrial and commercial development is being increasingly built without direct rail service, to the immediate detriment of the local community and at great cost to the state. South central Pennsylvania and northeast Pennsylvania have been especially popular among warehousing and distribution developers; meanwhile, railroads that serve these regions can handle additional traffic.

Consider the following, chosen from among countless examples throughout the state. First, a recently completed and still partially vacant ProLogis facility just west of Carlisle comprises six separate buildings, housing clients ranging from Crown Bolt to Borders Books & Music, and is located a short distance away from a partially-abandoned Norfolk Southern Railway line receiving less-than-once-per-day service. Despite its proximity to the rail line, it is a truck-only facility. Second, the ES3 Conewago Township facility is the largest automated grocery warehouse in the world, touting 120-foot ceilings and over a million square feet. After construction was completed, an inquiry was made into the potential for gaining rail access, but with one highway, six miles, and 500 feet of grade separating the facility from the nearest rail line, the plan was never pursued, and all traffic in and out now chokes Interstate 83.

Figure 1. ProLogis Carlisle - Click to Enlarge

Figure 2. ProLogis Carlisle showing local truck routes - Click to Enlarge

Figure 3. Logisco Facility - Click to Enlarge

Figure 4. Logisco Facility - Click to Enlarge

Figure 5. ES3 Conewago Township Facility

Figure 6. ES3 showing connections to York

These sites all have a number of things in common: they sit alongside unused or under-used rail lines with connections to the national rail network, and they are served exclusively by trucks along notoriously congested highway corridors. Furthermore, these are all “lights-out” buildings—high-tech, automated facilities that require few staff to operate. Such facilities, therefore, create few jobs after construction, while significantly adding to highway congestion, road accidents, traffic delays, air quality deterioration, and the public cost of paying for heavy road wear.

This represents an out-of-balance transportation system that is taking its toll on areas of the state that can least afford it. Current ordinance permits, even incentivizes this practice with tax and job credits and a refusal to toll most major highways while continuing to finance their expansion and maintenance. In addition to developing an equitable tax and funding policy, we must have a new freight transportation land use zoning plan that reverses the adverse effects of this development practice, and instead optimizes the use of each transportation mode so as to reduce congestion, pollution, and sprawl. For example, it could redirect freight in congested areas like these onto trains while encouraging truck transportation in areas where extending train service would be prohibitive.

Pennsylvania has already taken small steps in the right direction. At a conference held in 2003, participants from throughout the state joined together in the LUTED initiative, a framework to optimize Land Use, Transportation, and Economic Development in the state. The initiative divided Pennsylvania into nine separate regions, each of which was then charged with developing a region-specific Action Plan. These Plans set out primary and additional objectives to be achieved by each region, the overarching goal being to create statewide policies to promote better use of land and transportation services, and increase economic development.

The LUTED initiative represents a statewide effort to deal with local issues of land use and transportation, with the intended outcome being to update and streamline these systems throughout the state. However, while the initial conferences talked of high expectations and integrated plans, little has come of these efforts to date. One local Action Plan, that of the Northern Tier, does display a focus on developing rail service as an alternative to trucking (none of the aforementioned facilities are located in the Northern Tier), but these plans have yet to turn into concrete results. The LUTED initiative shows that if land use and transportation plans are to succeed in the Commonwealth, they will need to be matched with incentives and enthusiasm.