Wilkes-Barre Township Planning Commission Chairman Charles Revitt speaks at Monday’s meeting.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Daryl Pawlush, Wilkes-Barre Township engineer, at Monday’s planning commission meeting, reads aloud the list of conditions Bluecup must comply with to get final approval on its warehousing plans.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre resident Bob Kadluboski addresses the planning commission at Monday’s meeting.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Elliot Shibley, project engineer for Bluecup’s warehouse project, answers questions during Monday’s meeting.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Bluecup Ventures LLC managing partner Jeff Randolph listens to public comment at Monday’s meeting.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Four years, one court case, and endless amounts of public scrutiny later, Bluecup Ventures LLC received conditional approval Monday at Wilkes-Barre Township Planning Commission’s monthly meeting to build its 940,000-square-foot warehouse off Johnson Street.
The approval comes a little less than a week before the Aug. 15 land development deadline.
Jeff Randolph, managing partner for Bluecup, said after the meeting that he was “relieved and happy” that the project could finally move to the next phase.
If Bluecup meets all the conditions required by the planning commission, the developer said they will return to receive final approval.
Some of those conditions, explained by Wilkes-Barre Township engineer Daryl Pawlush, include: providing the necessary financial security to the township, recording of the stormwater management operations and maintenance agreement and the developer’s agreement, as well as compliance with any comments or recommendations from PennDOT on the traffic impact analysis.
Attorney Mara Terrana, representing Bluecup, said drafts of several of the necessary documents were sent to and are in the possession of Wilkes-Barre Township solicitor John Rodgers.
“He indicated that on conditional approval, he will review and respond to the drafts of the agreements,” she said.
Additionally, Terrana provided the planning commission with the finalized easement agreement between Bluecup and adjacent property owner Mike Corrigan.
Bluecup Ventures LLC first presented its preliminary land development plans to the planning commission on Oct. 13, 2025.
The Fairfield, Connecticut-based Bluecup plans to build the warehouse and distribution center on approximately 70 acres of coal mine-scarred property owned by Pagnotti Enterprises Inc. and Loree Associates, according to previous Times Leader reporting.
While the parcel is along Interstate 81, access is on Johnson Street off Route 309.
Wilkes-Barre Township originally denied Bluecup a conditional use permit for the warehouse during a public hearing on Nov. 21, 2022.
The following month, an appeal filed by Wilkes-Barre law firm Hoegen & Associates, representing Bluecup, asked the Luzerne County Court to reverse the council’s denial, arguing that the council’s actions “constituted a clear error of law” and “were not supported by substantial evidence.”
In January of 2023, the council voted 3-2 to approve a findings document prepared by Rodgers explaining the council’s decision.
In October 2023, Luzerne County Judge Fred A. Pierantoni III ruled against the township, rejecting its arguments and finding that its actions were an “error of law,” calling into question the standards the council used in assessing evidence when making its decision.
On Nov. 6, 2023, the council voted 3-2 not to appeal the judge’s ruling.
Throughout the land development process, many residents spoke out in opposition to the project.
At both council and planning commission meetings over the last few years, residents have exhaustively voiced concerns over the warehouse’s potential impact on traffic, as well as the noise and light pollution it might contribute to.
At Monday’s planning commission meeting, Chairman Charles Revitt told those in attendance that simply voting no to the project was not an option because the developer had met all of the land development requirements.
“I’ve been stopped about 20 times in the past week where people have said, ‘Just vote it down.’ […] A lot of people think that we could just say, ‘I don’t want it and vote it down,’” Revitt said.
The commission did allow public comment on the project before voting, but planning commission solicitor Todd Johns cautioned residents from bringing up past concerns.
“We don’t need to say all those things again because it’s not going to change what we’re doing here today,” Johns said.
Bob Kadluboski, a Wilkes-Barre resident who frequently live-streams meetings on Facebook to his social media followers, asked what would happen if the developer doesn’t comply with the suggestions from PennDOT.
“Then, they don’t get [final] approval. It’s that simple,” Pawlush said. “They are agreeing to whatever PennDOT says to do.”
In February of this year, the council approved a tax break extension to Bluecup Ventures LLC for the warehousing and distribution center, extending the LERTA until Dec. 31, 2027.
Luzerne County Council is the last taxing body that will need to vote on the extension. The extension was previously approved by the Wilkes-Barre Area School District.
Bluecup Attorney Francis Hoegen, of Hoegen & Associates in Wilkes-Barre, said the developer will be returning to the County Council to request a vote on the extension in the near future.
According to Bluecup, the project will increase tax revenue for the township from $1,300 to $840,000 per year once the building is in operation, and $1.6 million per year after the tax abatement program (LERTA) expires in 10 years.
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