Bern Township: credit union plans a W. Leesport Road site

A vacant field on W. Leesport Road in Bern Township is being lined up for development by Riverfront Federal Credit Union, which owns the parcel and has a subdivision and land development plan under review by the township. The Bern Township Planning Commission took its first look at the plan on July 14.

Here is what the public record shows so far, and what it does not.

What is confirmed

Berks County assessment records list the site, on the north side of W. Leesport Road near the Spring Ridge corporate campus, as a 3.52-acre commercial parcel owned by Riverfront Federal Credit Union, whose headquarters is at 2609 Keiser Boulevard in Wyomissing. The credit union bought the ground on May 31, 2019 for $1.25 million. The county still assesses it as vacant land, with a building value of zero, so nothing has been built there yet.

The credit union runs branches in Reading and Wyomissing now. It has not announced a new branch publicly, and the plan documents on file with the township do not spell out the building.

What “subdivision and land development” means

The item on the July 14 Planning Commission agenda is the “Riverfront FCU Subdivision and Land Development Plan.” Those are two things in one filing. A subdivision draws new property lines, splitting one parcel into more than one lot or shifting a boundary. A land development plan is the site design for what gets built: the building, driveways, parking, and stormwater controls.

Because the plan carries the word subdivision, the 3.52-acre parcel is likely being divided. How many lots it becomes, how big the building is, and whether any additional lot is set aside for another use are not answered in the documents posted so far.

What is not yet public

The Planning Commission reviewed the plan on July 14, but the minutes of that meeting have not been posted. Bern Township approves its minutes at the following month’s meeting, so the July 14 discussion should appear in writing after the commission’s August 11 meeting. The Berks County Planning Commission also reviews subdivision and land development plans and issues a written report on each; the county’s report for this plan had not been published as of July 23.

Until those records post, the number of lots and the specific uses are not established. Anyone stating more than that right now is guessing.

How to follow it

Read the record. Bern Township posts Planning Commission agendas and minutes on its Planning Commission page. The commission meets the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at the municipal building, 1069 Old Bernville Road; the next meeting is August 11.
Ask the township. The township planning engineer is Kent Morey of Spotts, Stevens & McCoy. The township office is at 610-926-2267.
Watch the supervisors. After the Planning Commission finishes its review, a subdivision and land development plan goes to the Board of Supervisors for approval. The supervisors meet the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m.

The bigger picture on Bern’s fields

This plan is a bank on commercial ground, not a large-scale industrial use. But it lands while Bern Township is writing rules for exactly the kind of big-footprint projects that have drawn attention across the county. The Planning Commission is revising the township’s solar energy ordinance and, at the same June meeting, voted to table a draft data center ordinance for further work. Bern is one of a growing list of Berks municipalities drafting data-center zoning; our report on six townships writing data-center rules tracks that wave. Those ordinances decide what can be built on the township’s open land in the years ahead, separate from any single plan like this one.

We will update this report when the July 14 minutes, the county review, or the plan’s move to the supervisors fills in the missing detail.