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WEST ROCKHILL — New technology and changes in the industry are behind the request for a variance to allow Derstine’s Foodservice Distributor to build a 120-foot tall cold storage building, company representatives told the West Rockhill Township Board of Supervisors July 20. Township rules set the limit for the building height at 35 feet.

The company, which has its food distribution business on State Road, wants to build a cold storage facility on Cathill Road between Teva and the Route 309 Bypass. A West Rockhill Township Zoning Hearing Board hearing on the request for the variance will be held 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3 at the Tylersport firehouse.

Most of the cold storage would be frozen meats coming in truckloads from the Port of Philadelphia and being stored for about a month, Derstine’s President Zach Derstine said.

“The cold storage industry has changed over the years and there’s not a lot of guys that wanna work in zero degrees or 20 below zero. I did my whole childhood, but they don’t wanna do it anymore, so when you get a height variance like this, you can automate the freezer with robotics,” he said.

The height is what allows the automation to work and the change is needed to be competitive, he said.

If the variance is granted, there would be 15 employees at the site when the first phase of the building is done and 45 employees at full build-out, he said. If the variance is not granted and the company has to do manual warehousing instead, 30 employees would be anticipated for the first phase and up to 95 at build-out, he said.

In answer to a question about hours of operation, Derstine said 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. is anticipated, but it would be possible to operate 24 hours per day.

In answer to questions about increased traffic, traffic engineer Rob Hoffman said there would be 35 trucks entering and leaving per day in phase one and 110 trucks at build-out. The total number of vehicles coming and leaving would be about 100 in phase one and 315 at build-out, he said.

Engineer Mike Jeitner said the site is about 40 acres, about half of which can be developed after subtracting out areas such as flood plains and wetlands. The highest part of the building would be about 450 feet back from Cathill Road, he said.

“We’re not talking about something that’s really high up in the sky here when you talk about the viewshed from the road,” he said.

At full build -out, the about 300,000 square-foot building would have 34 loading docks and 40 adjacent trailer spaces, he said.

Those numbers would each be a lot more at standard distribution centers, architect Don Olsen said.

The proposed height and increased traffic were two of the concerns raised at the supervisors meeting. Public comment included requests that another, more suitable location be found and concern about noise from refrigerated trucks. The plans were also discussed the previous week by the planning commission.

The amount of activity and the impact on surrounding areas would be less with the higher building, attorney Michael Malloy said.

If the building height is restricted to the 35-foot limit, the cold storage would switch to being refrigerated products, most likely produce, instead of frozen meats, Derstine said. Unlike the frozen products, which might remain for about a month, the refrigerated items would be turned over much more quickly, bringing more activity, he said.

The plans meet all the township regulations except for the building height, the company representatives said.

The supervisors said a letter will be sent to the zoning board asking that if the variance is approved, conditions be imposed to mitigate the impact on neighbors and the township.

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