Planning commission tables review of Daniels’ concrete batch plant after residents raise noise, traffic and environmental concerns

Salem Township’s Planning Commission on July 3 unanimously voted to table an application from property owner James Daniels for a storage yard and concrete batch plant at 1855 State Route 819 after residents raised safety, noise and environmental concerns.

The commission heard technical updates from Holly Lorenzo, senior project engineer with Apex Companies LLC, who said the current submission lacks multiple required plan elements and that approvals from township engineering, the conservation district and state agencies remain outstanding. Lorenzo listed requirements including deed and tax references, acreage and topographic contours, building dimensions and setbacks, off-street parking and circulation, stormwater management, SEO/DEP approval for on‑lot sanitary facilities, Westmoreland County and DEP erosion-and-sediment control/NPDES approvals, and a PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit for access to SR 819.

The application drew extensive public comment. Resident Lisa Segina said the development proceeded "without anyone knowing about it" and alleged the situation looked "like a cover up and clean up," citing truck traffic, noise, dust and what she described as millings seeping tar into springs and well water. "There are different rules for different residents," Segina said, urging enforcement and reimbursement of township costs. Ron Muir described repeated early-morning noise, saying he heard a cement truck mixer run "20–30 minutes" at about 5:08 a.m. Other nearby residents reported reduced property values and worries about driveway sightlines and runoff.

Commission members and staff responded with process details. Holly Lorenzo said the DEP operating permit for the plant requires six-month sampling and submission of results to DEP; she also cited a July 5, 2022 DEP report referenced in the review that indicated the concrete plant had been treated as exempt from certain plan or operating-permit requirements based on the applicant’s dust-emissions calculations and that a dust collector is in place. James Daniels told the commission he was advised that millings may not sit for more than two years and that they are rotated regularly.

Commissioners clarified that supervisors may finalize plan approval while third-party items remain outstanding, but the final mylar plan will not be signed and recorded until all requirements are satisfied. With outstanding technical notes and community concerns unresolved, Paul Holleran moved to table the application; John Durco seconded and the motion passed with Mattei, Durco and Holleran voting in favor.

The Planning Commission referred residents with enforcement and taxation concerns to the Board of Supervisors’ meeting scheduled for July 17, 2024. The commission also noted that the applicant must obtain the PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit and other state and county approvals before the plan can be recorded.