Note: The following is not a verbatim transcript of the Zoning Hearing Board meeting; it is simply one person’s summary of the major points made by those involved in the hearing process.  For that reason, quotation marks are not used unless a direct quote was recorded.  For information about obtaining an official ZHB transcript, contact the New Hanover Township office.

What is GR 2?

Before the actual zoning hearing began, attorney Lawrence Sager, of Sager & Sager Associates, Pottstown who represents Louis Farrell of Atomic International, a company that borders the proposed site, spent 25 minutes making a motion to consolidate GR1 and GR2.  Sager also mentioned that there is an expert witness that the township and Sager want to bring before the board.  

Mr. Francis Recchuiti (representing the Connolly estate began his cross examination of Mr. David Horner of Horner and Canter, whose firm conducted traffic studies. 

Recchuiti wanted Horner to agree that the underlying basis of Horner’s  estimates and projections is based on numbers. Horner agreed.  When Recchuiti asked him if it was correct that Horner was here to establish his credibility. Horner said he was. Recchuiti then asked why Horner had picked Easter week to do his traffic study, a week that included Good Friday and Easter Monday, days when traffic would probably be lighter than normal.  Horner said it didn’t matter to his study---he said it would have no effect.

Recchuiti then went on a long cross about school busses, large trucks, and accidents.  It seemed that it pretty much just chewed up time.  

Horner said that busses and cars driving 55 mph on Rt. 73 wouldn’t have a problem with trucks exiting the planned facility because they have enough time to see the truck and make adjustments.  He said Penndot has regulations for this and are called sight lines (the distance needed by a driver to see and take action to traffic entering or leaving a highway). After Horner said this once, you knew he would say it over and over. Which is what he did to Recchuiti's next group of questions about accidents.  Horner said he couldn’t make any projections or estimates about truck accidents or school bus accidents.  Horner also said that Penndot sees no difference between small and large trucks and that his findings “meet Penndot’s minimal standards. When Recchuiti asked him if he felt comfortable with minimal standards, he said he did.

Ms. Julie Von Spreckelsen, an associate of Bob Brant, township solicitor, next asked Horner if he strictly relied on data supplied by the Silvi group for his input. He said he did and that he did not try to verify the data, he accepted it as given.

Sager was next.  Sager spent about 20 minutes asking him if he did any research on quarries and traffic.  Horner said he did not.

The next GR 2 meeting is February 19, 2004 (with a snow date of January 26) at the New Hanover Township Building, 7:00 PM.  

See Also:
Summary of the previous Gibraltar 2 meeting (December 18, 2003)