Latest news with #LERTA
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Olyphant to vote on grant, updated land development for industrial park
Olyphant Borough Council will vote Tuesday to apply for a $250,000 infrastructure grant and consider an amended land development agreement for a sprawling industrial park project off Marshwood Road. Council will vote on the motions regarding the proposed Triboro Industrial Park and associated Triboro Commerce Park — a project at least six years in the making that will build more than 4.5 million square feet of warehouse space on a large swath of land in the middle of Route 247, the Casey Highway and Marshwood Road. According to its meeting agenda, council will consider adopting a resolution allowing the borough to apply for a $250,000 state grant for infrastructure development at the Triboro Commerce Park. Council will also vote to confirm a memo to the land development agreement between the borough and the Triboro Industrial Park, as well as confirming a modified agreement dated April 25. The original land development agreement between the borough and Triboro was originally approved Nov. 9, 2022, according to the agenda. The Triboro parks encompass nearly 1,000 acres, with the industrial park being about 561.63 acres on the east side of the property and the commerce park being 411.589 acres on the west side, according to two $2 million open-end mortgages recorded with the Lackawanna County recorder of deeds on April 17, 2024. The Triboro Industrial Park transferred some of its property to the Triboro Commerce Park across two $1 property transactions recorded Dec. 29, 2021. Charles DeNaples, the son of Keystone Sanitary Landfill co-owner Dominick DeNaples, signed the April 2024 mortgages as the sole member of both the Triboro Industrial Park and Triboro Commerce Park. Both the commerce and industrial park list 1210 Wheeler Ave., Dunmore, as their address, which is the same address as Smart Recycling Inc. The Triboro Industrial Park is a four-building park with 4,522,880 square feet of warehouse space for lease, according to The warehouses will range from just under 1.067 million square feet to 1.184 million square feet. A brochure for the industrial park and its website advertise the site's close proximity to multiple interstates, touting it as being within a one-day drive of 60% of the United States' population and 40% of Canada's. The website also promotes the industrial park's 10-year tax break. In 2019, Olyphant council, the Mid Valley School Board and Lackawanna County commissioners approved a 10-year tax abatement term for the Triboro property, applying Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance status to 964 acres of the deteriorated, undeveloped land. Once the warehouses are built, the landowner will only pay 5% of taxes on improvements to the property for the first year, increasing by 5% in subsequent years. During the 10th and final year of the LERTA, the landowner will pay 50% of the value of the improvements before paying full taxes the following year. In April 2022, the industrial park received $3 million through the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, or RACP, with the funding going toward the first phase of the project and focusing on the eastern portion, including earthwork/excavation, clearing, utility relocation, mine mitigation, erosion, sedimentation controls and stormwater pond preparation, according to a press release at the time from state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore. Last year, the state Department of Environmental Protection extinguished a mine fire burning near the proposed industrial park. The fire began in 2004 when someone set a stolen car on fire, spreading to the mines below and burning beneath Olyphant for 20 years at the former Dolph Coal Co.'s Hannah Bell Slope Mine. A DEP contractor successfully extinguished the 7-acre fire in April 2024 as part of a project approved for up to $16.5 million. Attempts to reach Olyphant solicitor and borough Manager C.J. Mustacchio and Scranton attorney Gregory J. Pascale, who represented Triboro in recent property transactions, were unsuccessful Monday afternoon.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Luzerne County Council to discuss tax break alteration and coyote hunting request
Apr. 5—Luzerne County Council is set to discuss a tax break alteration and coyote hunting request at its Tuesday work session. A council majority had approved the tax break for Hazleton Creek Commerce Center Holdings in 2021 for a $500 million project on 400-acre site badly scarred from past coal mining and two dumps. The tract is along Routes 309 and 924, mostly in Hazleton and partly in Hazle Township. Bethlehem-based Hazleton Creek plans to build five warehousing and manufacturing structures totaling 5.5 million square feet. Hazleton Creek's agreement with the county contained a clause saying the break would be forfeited if the company becomes delinquent on non-exempt real estate taxes at the site. Company representative Bob Kiel said he has absolutely no objection to this condition. But because the tract will be subdivided into six sections, he is asking council to change the wording to ensure the occupants of all parcels would not be penalized and lose the break if one becomes delinquent. Kiel said he expects Hazleton Creek will continue owning all six subdivided parcels throughout the break and going forward, unless an occupant determines it wants to purchase its parcel. As standard industry practice, companies leasing the buildings constructed by Hazleton Creek would be responsible for paying the real estate taxes and also receive the tax break incentive. The revision on Tuesday's work session would apply the stipulation to each lot and says nonpayment by one lot owner would "not in any way affect" the exemption of other lots. The break is under the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) program for blighted properties, which means the property owner pays real estate taxes on the land throughout the break and receives a discount on taxes for the new development. Bethlehem-based project developer Robert Kiel convinced a council majority to grant full forgiveness on the new buildings for a decade because the tract had been surface and deep mined, requiring the company to complete state-mandated environmental reclamation work and cap old landfills before construction could begin. Kiel said last week that much of that work has been completed — including landfill capping and earth-moving — following an extensive permitting and regulatory process. Hazleton Creek has invested millions of dollars in the project to date, he said. The company is in the process of demolishing an old automobile business along Route 309, and one of the five building pads has been completed, Kiel said. Kiel stressed Hazleton Creek is committed to the project and not looking to sell the tract. "We're not walking away. We're excited about this project and have been working on it almost five years now," he said. When he last appeared before county council in 2021, Kiel said he had constructed about 70 million square feet of property in Pennsylvania and other states during his more than 30-year development career. He said he was drawn to the Hazleton project for the challenge and reception he received from city leaders. Tuesday's work session follows a 6 p.m. voting meeting at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. A link for the remote attendance option is posted under council's online meetings section at Council would have to approve the change at a future voting meeting for it to take effect. Coyotes Council also is set to discuss a request from Ronald Yaron to hunt coyote on county-owned property near the Eagle Rock Resort in the Hazleton area to eliminate a nuisance to the housing development, the work session agenda said. His communication said he will follow all safety requirements and Pennsylvania Game Commission regulations, including carrying a license, wearing safety apparel and hunting 151 yards away from any dwellings. If a coyote is harvested, the carcass is considered residual waste and will be properly disposed, he said. His submission included a photograph of a deer that had been attacked and killed by a coyote at Eagle Rock Resort. Consolidating departments The county administration is seeking a council resolution authorizing the combination of the county Mapping/GIS Department with Planning and Zoning, the work session agenda said. This merger would enhance decisions related to planning and development, it said. Planning and Zoning is part of the operational services division. Mapping/GIS would move from the administration services division to operational services. Staff for both departments would remain the same with the exception of reducing department heads from two to one. County GIS/Mapping Director Dan Reese has been serving as acting planning/zoning executive director since Matthew Jones resigned last May. Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City of Erie, ErieBank partner up to boost home ownership
The City of Erie is partnering with a local bank to begin a new home opportunity program. Mayor Joe Schember and ErieBank are introducing the Open Your Door program. AHN St. Vincent honors two physicians for National Doctors' Day Their goal is to reduce financial barriers and leverage existing resources for those who may be facing challenges when it comes to home ownership. The program offers 100% LERTA tax abatement for 10 years on new development, refunding acquisition costs, and financing assistance for owner-occupied residential builds. French St. parking garage goes cashless 'We're that mom-and-pop bank that wants to develop relationships. we want to be there every step of the way from the time their kids open their accounts to their grandkids and move forward we want to be in their lives forever and so this program will help them build that generational wealth, build equity in their homes build a dream of maybe having a small business, sending someone to college all that happens the start of having a home,' said Kevin Dixon, vice president & community responsibility officer for ErieBank. Dixon said this is going to provide a huge impact for the City of Erie. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
