MILFORD, PA—Developers have withdrawn their application to build a 435,000-square-foot warehouse at the I-84 interchange in Milford Township.

In a letter to township supervisors dated December 7, John VanLuvanee of Eastburn and Gray law firm of Doylestown, PA, wrote: “This letter is to advise the board that National Land Developers has terminated its agreement to purchase the property which is the subject of the above-referenced Conditional Use Application. As a result, National Land no longer has standing to pursue the conditional use.

Please consider this letter to be formal notice that the Conditional Use Application is withdrawn.”

A significant grassroots movement rose up to block the warehouse in order to protect the Milford aquifer, an important water source situated directly below the 45-acre site National Land wanted to develop. 

After the developers withdrew their application, Sean Strub, the Milford Borough mayor, circulated a message that said “the sense of relief was almost palpable in the streets.”

He credited an “effective a multi-faceted grassroots community effort” for the withdrawal, starting with Vito DiBiasi’s Friends of the Milford Aquifer platform, “through which he raised the alarm, enlisted other organizations and confronted and held accountable political and community leaders. He never gave up and absent Vito’s effort, the warehouse might very well have been built.” Strub credited a long list of community and government groups and individuals.

The Water Not Warehouse (waternotwarehouse.com) page celebrated the win in a banner headline that added, “We are still at risk in 2-3 other locations in Pike County on the 84 corridor.”

Strub said in his statement that “the war on our pristine Pike County environment and high quality of life, in the ‘name of progress’ is not over.” The zoning ordinances of Milford Township and other municipalities need to be updated to protect against mega projects that put the water supply at risk, he said, and that the Pike County Economic Development Authority should “create a sustainable low-impact economic development strategy, with broad community input and support, to refocus their efforts on creating good jobs rather than attractive real estate deals for developers.”