• One of the objectives of the Limited Industrial-Commercial district of Upper Hanover Township is to "provide a variety of non-polluting industrial uses in both planned centers and on individual lots." (Upper Hanover Township Zoning Ordinance Section 1700.2)

• The Limited Industrial-Commercial district of Upper Hanover Township does not allow public utilities as permitted uses by right. Section 1701.8 of the Zoning Ordinance empowers the Board of Supervisors to grant conditional use for a public utility (including buildings to house equipment and operations for electric service) only if, upon thorough examination, the land development is deemed to be consistent with the public interest and general welfare. A conditional use land development must demonstrate that it does not substantially injure or detract from the use of surrounding properties or character of the neighborhood, and the use of adjacent properties must be adequately safeguarded.

• The Upper Hanover Township Zoning Ordinance defines a public utility as "a building or structure and its equipment, used for the transmission and exchange of telephone, radio or cellular telephone, gas, power, sewer, and water facilities." (p. 30, Upper Hanover Township Zoning Ordinance)

• The Panda Perkiomen generating station, an independent merchant power plant, is not a public utility - it is not regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and does not meet the criteria to qualify as a PUC.

• The Panda Perkiomen generating station is not a permitted use by right in the Limited Industrial-Commercial district of Upper Hanover Township. The Panda Perkiomen generating station is not a public utility and therefore cannot be accorded conditional use consideration. The Panda Perkiomen generating station generates electricity and therefore is not consistent with the activities of a public utility as defined by the Upper Hanover Township Zoning Ordinance which limits public utilities to transmission and exchange operations.

• The Upper Hanover Township Comprehensive Plan indicates that scenic beauty is considered to be a tangible community resource. The Panda Perkiomen property abuts the Fretz farmstead. The Comprehensive Plan identifies the view from the Henry Fretz tract and the adjacent properties - Hosensack Creek Valley to the east, Mill Hill to the south, Palm Hill to the west, and Powder Hill Valley to the north - as a scenic vista. The Comprehensive Plan also identifies the nearby Palm Schwenkfelder Church and Palm Station as structures and property of significant historic and cultural value, while indicating that the John Wentz homestead maintains historic value with the potential for restoration.

Last modified: 25 January 2000

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