“We expect too much of new buildings, and too little of ourselves.”

— Jane Jacobs, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”

Scannell Properties, a commercial real estate firm based in Indianapolis, has proposed building a one-million-square-foot warehouse at 1525 Wood Ave., parallel to Bushkill Creek and the Silk Mill. Most of the 106-acre property lies in Wilson Borough, with the remainder in Easton and Palmer Township. The development poses potential impacts, such as increased traffic, pollutant runoff, deterioration of air quality, creek contamination, soil contamination and noise pollution.

We are writing to encourage Lafayette College students to care about the warehouse proposal, to consider the ramifications and to support our Easton neighbors in opposing the project.

This project was created by out-of-state businessmen who hold no regard for our health or livelihoods. These potential impacts on Easton cannot be reduced to “Not in my backyard,” or NIMBY, complaints. Pennsylvania’s Constitution affirms, “People have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.”

The Lehigh Valley is already an asthma hotspot; building a mega-warehouse will generate immense truck traffic that only intensifies health disparities. We find ourselves disappointed, even frustrated, that outdated Easton zoning laws have failed to protect us from Scannell’s proposal. Members of our community must now insert themselves into the decision-making process.

For more than a year, a coalition of lawyers, business owners, engineers, students, artists and more has garnered public support, gathered data and spoken to various professionals in order to organize against the proposal. The “Stop Wood Warehouse” coalition has stood in opposition to the developer’s attempts to capitalize on Easton’s outdated zoning laws.

Jane Jacobs wrote that “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” Lafayette students are a part of this everybody.

The coalition has worked to give us a voice — use it.

Lafayette’s Environmental Justice Working Group will be hosting a panel discussion on the Wood Avenue Warehouse proposal on Monday at 4:15 p.m. in room 104 of the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights. Experts in policy, engineering, environmental studies and organizing will be in conversation to unpack what the warehouse proposal is, why many are concerned and how the community is responding. This will be an all-encompassing introduction to the project. We encourage everyone to attend and to bring friends and peers. Collectively, our presence can greatly change the social climate of this project on College Hill and beyond.

Abby Cooley ’27, Ben Tropeano ’28 and Harrison Zoller ’27 represent the Stop Wood Warehouse Coalition and seek to raise student awareness for the project.