Plans to develop the former New Jersey Zinc Company property have evolved over the last 15 years:

• In December 2009, Northface Development COO George Petrole presented plans to redevelop the former Palmerton Zinc West Plant Site at 1120 Mauch Chunk Road, a 120-acre parcel within the broader Palmerton Superfund area. The Palmerton Area School Board unanimously approved a resolution allowing certain tax compromises for the project.

• Petrole said the site, abandoned since 2002 after a bankruptcy filing, would be remediated under the state’s One Cleanup Program in coordination with the DEP and EPA Region III. He projected up to 27 building lots with 235,000 square feet of office and technology space, 213,000 square feet of warehouse space, and 1.7 million square feet of paved parking. About 53% of the land would be capped by impermeable improvements.

• Northface planned to dedicate about 3 acres for a new Palmerton fire station and to relocate certain rights-of-way and utility routes. Petrole said redevelopment would bring “thousands of jobs” and expand the local tax base.

• By 2021, Northface proposed four 500,000-square-foot warehouses to be built annually starting in 2022. However, in April that year, Palmerton Borough Council unanimously rejected a temporary tax abatement request, joining the school district and county in opposition.

• Council had approved zoning ordinance changes for warehouse regulations in August 2021, but residents soon complained of odors and truck traffic causing street damage near the site.

— Terry Ahner