At the Nov. 11 Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting, a major stumbling block occurred with a conditional use request by Landston Equities LLC, of Orefield, to locate a distribution facility at 2451 Main St., Whitehall, directly behind Walmart. The project would consist of a 190,400-square-foot warehouse to manage the transfer and movement of various products.

The Landston Equities is reportedly an entity of Jaindl Land Company.

Landston was represented by Atty. Eric Schock, who led a presentation that lasted nearly three hours. Initially, the project had been preliminarily approved by the engineer.

Schock had three major witnesses, including a site engineer, a land development specialist and a traffic expert. The commissioners challenged elements related to safety, environmental issues and traffic patterns impacted by nearly 80 large trucks navigating Whitehall streets.

After another hour of discussion, the commissioners agreed to table the resolution for conditional use until the December meeting. The Landston representatives understand they have several significant steps to take if the commissioners grant the initial conditional use.

In discussion of another resolution, Fellowship Community Independent Living Apartments had asked for conditional approval for a minor subdivision/land development plan along Mauch Chunk Road. Commissioners identified some potential problems with fire safety since the new buildings in the rear of the property would be built on a rather steep incline. The commissioners noted it would be difficult for the fire department to reach people living in the back areas of those apartments.

Commissioners cited the recent Maryland Circle apartment fire in late October. Rather than denying permission, the commissioners tabled the resolution, allowing Fellowship management to seek a solution to the problem in order to gain approval.

Commissioners also made two major tributes.

The first was a followup to the recognition of the response to the Oct. 25 Maryland Circle apartment fire that resulted in more than 400 residents needing to be relocated. At this meeting, commissioners specifically honored the state and local police departments for their efforts.

This followed with a specially prepared video in celebration of Veterans Day. Both of these recognitions received standing ovations from the packed council room attendees.