In the real estate business, there’s a mantra.

It goes something like “Location, location, location!” and loosely translated means that where something is adds to or subtracts from the value of any structures in a given area.

Think about it for a bit.

More than 200 years ago, a black rock that burned found all over our area fueled an industrial revolution and heated the homes of millions.

That same black rock made countless people millionaires, many times on the backs of countless workers who came here in search of a better life. Those workers had no say in their work or living conditions, no matter where in the Coal Region they lived.

Today, we’re still dealing with scarred land and tainted water – the legacy left a one-time pristine location people visited to get away from noisy, dirty, overcrowded urban areas. Though mining has declined as the area’s foremost industry, its effects linger.

At the same time, there’s a new potential threat to what’s left of the land after the mining era.

And just as it was some 200 years ago, location is driving the issue.

It comes in the form of warehousing and distribution sites we’ve seen springing up along the Interstate 78-Interstate 81 corridor.

For the last few years, the behemoth buildings have filled much of the available space in the Lehigh Valley and spread west to Interstate 81.

Just take a drive from Lebanon to Scranton or Annville to Allentown and you’ll see hundreds of these concrete and steel shells where forest or farmland once ruled.

To the north, near Interstate 80, the Hazleton area is exploding as a warehousing haven with several sites already occupied and plenty more on the way in the years to come.

That I-78-81 corridor was ranked among the highest – if not reaching top status – in newly leased buildings in the last year or so.

But the hunger for available land continues and developers are looking to Kidder Township, where residents of the rural area that relies on travel and tourism are doing their best to push back against warehouses and truck terminals.

One is already in place along Route 940 and as many as three more are in the works.

Kidder has come onto the radar as a warehouse site because of its proximity to the interstate system, as well as a westerly spread away from similar sites in northern New Jersey.

In an ongoing battle, local citizens groups are taking the township to task over the latest plans for a site that’s already been clearcut near Route 940.

Opponents cite a series of changes the supervisors allowed which changed zoning in the area to make it more attractive to commerce.

Love Kidder Township, a group fighting the proposal, questions the township’s actions in a recent statement and charged that supervisors approved the existing facility at 880 Route 940 without regard to safety of Kidder residents.

The group claims the township did not fulfill requirements of an environmental-impact statement when allowing that facility and fears similar treatment on future sites.

Township leaders say they can’t stop the progress, explaining they’re not allowed by state law to exclude any type of business from the township.

Both sides will square off again in late February, when the supervisors hold their next regular meeting.

Another twist in the battle came when a Lehigh Valley lawmaker introduced a proposal to give local voters the final word on warehouses planned in their communities.

State Rep. Joe Emrick, R-Upper Nazareth, feels the facilities bring increased truck traffic as well as air, sound and light pollution.

His House Bill 1960 would require a voter referendum for warehouses or distribution centers of at least 100,000 square feet in size and on three acres or more of land.

Emrick says his proposal would give people a voice at the ballot box and let them say when and how the growth of warehousing might continue.

His plan, still unfolding, appears to hold merit.

And puts a whole new spin on the idea of “location, location, location.”

ED SOCHA/TNEDITOR@TNONLINE.COM

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years experience in community journalism. Reach him at tneditor@tnonline.com.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.