Maxatawny Township to Update Property Code, Vote on ALDI

Maxatawny Township supervisors are scheduled to move the township to the 2021 edition of its property maintenance code and to give final approval to the plan for an ALDI grocery store at their meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, according to the agenda posted on the township website. The meeting also carries a townhouse plan, a state grant application for South Kemp Road, and $4,000 for next year's Fall Festival.

Meetings are held at the township municipal building, 127 Quarry Road, Kutztown, per the township's minutes page; the office phone is 610-683-6518 (contact page).

The property code moves to the 2021 edition

The agenda lists a "Motion to approve Ordinance 2026-03 – adoption of 2021 International Property Maintenance Code." The International Property Maintenance Code is a model code published by the International Code Council, the organization that also publishes the International Building Code. Maxatawny has used the ICC's property maintenance code for two decades: the township's ordinance list shows Ordinance 2005-4 "adopting the International Property Maintenance Code relating to all properties within the Township," Ordinance 2019-03 adopting the 2015 edition, and Ordinance 2023-1 adopting the 2018 edition "as amended herein as the property maintenance code for the Township of Maxatawny." Monday's ordinance would move the township to the 2021 edition.

Supervisors already voted on the switch once. At their July 13 meeting, the board passed a "Motion to adopt 2021 International Property Maintenance Code" on a motion by Supervisor Steve Wilson, seconded by Vice Chairman Marcus Simonetti, 3-0, according to the July 13 minutes. The agenda does not say what the 2021 edition changes for property owners or whether the township is amending any of its sections, as it did with the 2018 edition. The ordinance text is not posted online. The township's property-maintenance staff includes two assistant property maintenance inspectors, Robert Hauck and Tricia Wessner, appointed at the January reorganization per the Jan. 5 minutes.

Under the public comment rules printed on the agenda, residents and taxpayers may speak on each agenda item after the board finishes discussing it, for three minutes per person under Resolution 2018-03; non-residents are asked to submit comments in writing to jwehr@maxatawny.net.

The ALDI store reaches its last plan approval

Under "Plans to Review," the agenda lists "ALDI Inc. – Final plan approval." It is the step after the preliminary plan approval the board granted in July.

The ALDI project has been before the board all year. In January, representatives of the project presented the plan and the variances they would seek from the Zoning Hearing Board; the board discussed the Sharadin Road access, sidewalks and parking, and a resident raised truck traffic, the condition of Kutztown Road and sinkholes, per the Jan. 12 minutes. The board voted 3-0 to recommend approval of the requested variances. On May 11 the board approved the ALDI subdivision plan and one waiver (May 11 minutes), and on July 13 it granted conditional approval of the preliminary plan, subject to the engineer's and township's April 13 review letters and a letter from the fire marshal, along with a set of requested waivers, all 3-0 (July 13 minutes). The minutes do not give the store's street address.

A second plan, "University Park – waivers/Preliminary plan approval," is the townhouse project the minutes call "University Park/Hartman Road Townhouses." The board has extended the township's review deadline for it three times this year, on Feb. 9 to April 13, on April 13 to July 13, and on July 13 to Oct. 12, the date of this meeting (Feb. 9, April 13 and July 13 minutes).

Road money, waste hauler, festivals

Other agenda items:

• South Kemp Road. The board is asked to authorize applying for a Multimodal Transportation Fund grant (the agenda spells it "Multi-Model") for South Kemp Road improvements and to approve Resolution 2026-05 authorizing the grant documents. The agenda gives no dollar amount. In May the township engineer said a separate LSA grant application for South Kemp Road "should be awarded in September," per the May 11 minutes; the agenda does not say whether it was.
• Leck Waste Services. The waste company's application to modify its state Department of Environmental Protection permit stays on the agenda as old business. In August a company representative told the board it had received its PennDOT highway occupancy permit and was getting quotes for the work, per the Aug. 10 minutes.
• Solar panels. A homeowner at 65 Sokol Drive is asking for permission to put solar panels on the street-facing side of the house. The board has treated front-facing panels as waiver requests this year, granting them at 16 Curtis Drive in January, 376 Bowers Road in March, and 15146 Kutztown Road and 340 Kunkel Road in July.
• Festivals. The board is asked to approve $4,000 in recreation funds for the 2027 Fall Festival and to renew the Chile Pepper Festival agreement.
• Animal shelters. Discussion of agreements with the Animal Rescue League and The Sanctuary at Haafsville.
• Road data. GFW Consulting LLC's proposal for "data collection and digitalization services for road information" returns after the board asked in August to have Gary Wetzel attend the next meeting with more information.

Also on the agenda: a traffic impact study update, a "discussion on Cherrington property" that has carried on every 2026 agenda (the solicitor reported working with the estate's attorney early in the year and "no update" since April), the fire company's radio update request, and the monthly reports, bills and treasurer's report.

Data centers in the background

Maxatawny already has data center zoning on the books. The township posts Ordinance 2026-01, "enacted and ordained" on April 15, 2026, which allows a data center only by conditional use in the Industrial (I) zoning district, on a lot of at least 10 acres, at least 500 feet from an existing home, institution or school and at least 200 feet from the A-R, R-1, R-2 and NC residential districts, with 100-foot yard setbacks, a 50-foot height limit, and an environmental impact assessment covering groundwater, noise and vibration, air quality and stormwater, plus a traffic impact study. The ordinance's certificate says it was adopted at a public meeting held April 15; the posted 2026 minutes, which run through Aug. 10, record a draft going out for review in February and a resident asking for an update in March, but the minutes of the April 15 meeting are not posted. Separately, the board has been reviewing a draft "overlay district" since June and scheduled a joint meeting with the Planning Commission on it for Aug. 20; the July 13 minutes say residents can get the draft by emailing the township without a Right-to-Know request. Our data center tracker lists where each Berks municipality stands.

What happens next

The property code update takes effect through the ordinance once adopted; residents who want to know what changed from the 2018 edition can ask the township office. The ALDI final approval is the last of the township's plan approvals for the project. We will recap the votes once the minutes post; the township typically posts them after the following month's meeting, so the Sept. 14 minutes are not yet online either.

Nearby, Kutztown Borough voted in September on data center and short-term rental zoning, and the City of Reading created a vacant property registry in August as its own approach to neglected buildings.

Corrections: corrections@berksbeat.com.