In 2019, most residents of Lower Windsor Township were expecting Modern Landfill to halt operations in a very few years when the current site could take no more trash. Republic Services, the operator of Modern, had however been quietly negotiating with township officers for their agreement to host a new landfill to cover several farms adjacent to the current permitted location.
When the regular Board of Supervisors meeting for December 12th 2019 included an agenda item to vote on a host agreement for a new landfill (Republic called this an “expansion,”) residents packed the meeting room and unanimously objected to Republic’s proposal. The supervisors tabled the vote, the opposition from residents persisted and eventually a survey of all township residents was conducted. After 12 months of careful consideration, with a roll call vote in which each of the three supervisors explained his reasons, the township rejected further discussions with Republic.
The minutes from the December 10 2020 LWT Board of Supervisors meeting summarize the vote:
OTHER PERTINENT BUSINESS: Chairman Miller stated it has been a year and believes it is time for a decision on the landfill expansion. Chairman Miller expressed that the rewards we would get are far less than what we will give up by allowing the expansion. We received results of the survey which many were against as well as for the landfill. He does not know of any township in York County that would allow a landfill in their community without opposition. Chairman Miller motioned that all negotiations with Republic Services of PA, LLC for the expansion in Lower Windsor Township shall cease at this time, seconded by Supervisor Schock. Supervisor Schock stated he reviewed this many times and his big concern is the footprint of the landfill and agrees to put this decision to rest. Supervisor Yakubowski noted we must be good stewards of the land and the footprint of the landfill will do more harm than good and agreed to cease negotiations. Motion carried. Chairman Miller – Yes; Supervisor Schock – Yes; Supervisor Yakubowski – Yes.
About 9 months later, in the Fall/Winter 2021 township newsletter [Click to view – Front Page of Newsletter] the township provided further reasons for its decision. These include:
In each Second-Class Township in Pennsylvania the Supervisors are charged… …to secure the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township. On behalf of the residents and in order to keep a safe and healthy environment, we ended negotiations with Republic Services regarding a Host Agreement for the expansion of the landfill into our Township.
Republic Services will remain a working landfill until 2025-2026 when their permit expires. We stand on the belief that any extension of operations into our Township will be an overall detriment to the citizens.
The decision by the supervisors is significant because they are the governing body of the township and only they can amend the township’s ordinance and zoning map that currently prevents a landfill from being sited in areas zoned “Agriculture,” which most of the parcels in the proposed “expansion” are. PA Department of Environmental Protection will not consider permitting a new landfill that does not comply with a municipality’s zoning ordinances.
Republic Services complains that they should be allowed their new landfill because they own the property. However, this is not how zoning ordinances work, as many property owners have found out the hard way. Moreover, the property consists of several dozens of parcels acquired over many years. For the parcels acquired between 1998 and 2015, Republic and Waste Management (the previous operating company) did so in full knowledge they had executed an agreement preventing them from ever “expanding” again. [Click to view – 1998 agreement w/ Windsor Twp.] For parcels acquired after 2003, they knew that industrial activities (e.g., landfill) were not permitted, as the land was zoned “Agriculture.” [Click to view – Zoning Map] Acquisition of the last “keystone” parcel of 113 acres that tied all of the others together didn’t occur until January 2, 2020, well after the supervisors had tabled executing a new Host Agreement in lieu of reconsidering its wisdom. Republic has no grounds for protest on the basis that they own the property.