N. Strabane cleans up after S. Strabane mess

What a difference a municipal boundary can make. Or, more precisely, what a difference the leadership in two neighboring townships can make.
Case in point: Ensinger Inc.
A little more than a year ago, we reported on a plan by Ensinger, a plastics manufacturer based in North Strabane Township, to move its operations and expand on part of a 158-acre site next to Tanger Outlets in South Strabane Township. The Ensinger project was to be the centerpiece of a development by the owner of the land next to Tanger, Chapman Properties. Ensinger intended to spend $40 million and use 31 acres of the site to build a complex that would house its corporate offices, manufacturing operations and a robotic warehouse system. At the time, Ensinger was employing 145 people in North Strabane and said it hoped to employ 200 in South Strabane. Chapman estimated the Ensinger project and development of the remainder of the land it owns there could generate $2 million in taxes every year for the township, Trinity Area School District and the county, and create more than 2,000 jobs. The company said the land, sitting vacant, generates about $180 a year in real estate tax.
But, alas, Ensinger and Chapman ran into a roadblock, namely the majority of the members of South Strabane Township Board of Supervisors.
In October of last year, the supervisors gave Chapman conditional approval to develop the Ensinger site but at the same time refused to accept the site plan because they balked at having the township assume responsibility for a nearly 3,000-foot section of Tanger Boulevard. Never mind Chapman intended to subdivide its land into nine parcels, and a township ordinance demands a road be made public if it provides access to more than four parcels. And never mind the township supervisors previously approved light manufacturing as an accepted use in C-3 commercial districts, which applies to the Chapman site.
Negotiations ensued, and Chapman eventually made the township an offer that could only be described as sweet. The company’s proposal was as follows:
• Chapman would reimburse the township for maintenance costs on Tanger Boulevard for the next decade.
• The company would pay to resurface the road following the initial stage of development.
• Chapman would pay $160,000 for the purchase of a snowplow for the township.
• The company also would donate an acre of its land for an outdoor recreation area at the neighboring Strabane Manor housing development.
In the end, Supervisors Ed Mazur, Bob Weber and Tom Moore refused to budge. They cited the effect of noise, traffic and pollution on nearby residents, and they continued to refuse to allow the township to take over the road. “If you do it for one, then you have to do it for all,” said Moore. That’s pure foolishness.
Chapman took the matter to court – it’s our hope the company prevails – and Ensinger said it was considering a possible move of its operations to New Jersey.
Fortunately for our area, we got word last week Ensinger has decided to stay in North Strabane. Not just stay, but expand, with plans to construct a 214,000-square-foot facility near its current building. The company got preliminary approval for the project from North Strabane supervisors Wednesday night.
Said North Strabane manager Frank Siffrinn, “They’ve been an absolutely great neighbor, and our business relationship has been nothing short of excellent.”
Sounds as if Ensinger would have been a great neighbor for the folks in South Strabane Township, but the majority of supervisors in that municipality truly failed the local citizens with their obstinate bumbling.