PMI claimed the township’s wetland buffer cost them $11 million. The July appeal deadline passed quietly. The 300-foot protection stands.

TOBYHANNA — It’s been five months since a Monroe County judge dismissed the lawsuit Pocono Mountains Industries filed against Coolbaugh Township — and the warehouse that sparked a legal war between the county’s own economic development agency and one of its municipalities remains unbuilt.

The July 27 deadline to appeal that ruling to Commonwealth Court came and went without public announcement. No appeal appears to have been filed. The township’s 300-foot wetland buffer — the strongest such protection in the Poconos — remains in effect.

For environmental advocates, the silence is victory.

For PMI, the nonprofit that has served as Monroe County’s certified economic development organization since the 1950s, the dismissal marked the collapse of a legal strategy meant to recover what executives claimed was an $11 million loss caused by a single township vote.

The Monroe County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the lawsuit in late June 2025, ruling that PMI and co-plaintiff Orchard BJK Company hadn’t demonstrated actual harm from the buffer ordinance. Their claims were “academic” and “hypothetical,” the court held, because they never submitted a development application under the new rules and the township never denied them anything.

The developers had asked the court to strike down the ordinance based on speculation. The court said no.

What the Ruling Means — And What It Doesn’t

The dismissal doesn’t permanently bar PMI or Orchard BJK from challenging the ordinance. But under the court’s reasoning, they’d need to submit an actual project application, get denied or restricted by the township, and then demonstrate concrete harm — not speculative losses.

“PennFuture is happy to see that the Exceptional Value headwaters of the Poconos Mountain region will continue to be protected,” PennFuture Staff Attorney Brigitte Meyer said after the ruling. “We hope more municipalities step up like Coolbaugh Township to protect critical water resources, and we will continue to fight alongside them as they do.”

The ruling also doesn’t affect Orchard BJK’s separate effort to obtain a DEP permit for a sewer line beneath protected wetlands — a permit that would be necessary for any warehouse construction regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome.

Why This Matters Now: A Model for the Poconos

The dismissal marked Coolbaugh Township’s second major courtroom victory against warehouse interests in less than 18 months — establishing the municipality as a model for other Pocono communities weighing whether to strengthen their own development regulations.

Coolbaugh’s 300-foot riparian buffer remains the strongest such protection in the region, double the previous 150-foot requirement that supervisors expanded on August 2, 2023. The ordinance requires developers to leave undisturbed zones around all streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands — land that PMI had counted on selling for warehouse construction.

With the legal challenge now behind them, supervisors have a clear path to enforce the buffer against any future development proposals.

On January 11, 2024, the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas had already upheld the township’s Zoning Hearing Board decision blocking a 460,000-square-foot facility proposed by Evergreen Farms at 174 Memorial Boulevard, adjacent to Tobyhanna Creek.

The applicant called the project a “warehouse.” The township’s zoning board examined the plans — 96 truck loading docks, 248 employee parking spaces, parking for 98 semi-trailers — and determined it was actually a “distribution center/truck terminal,” a use not permitted in the C-3 zoning district.

“The Applicant presented absolutely no evidence to prove this large building was in fact a ‘warehouse,'” the court ruled.

“These developers tried, but ultimately failed, to hide their true intent: to pour concrete for a massive distribution center that will run semi-truck traffic 24 hours a day,” said PennFuture attorney Emma Bast, who intervened in that case.

That earlier victory inspired PennFuture’s legal team to draft “Living With Logistics,” a model zoning ordinance now adopted in part by townships across the Poconos — including Kidder Township in Carbon County, which enacted the measure over objections from Blue Ridge Real Estate, operator of a 1.1 million-square-foot distribution center.

The Conflict: County Economic Agency vs. County Township

The lawsuit exposed an unusual rift within Monroe County’s development establishment.

Pocono Mountains Industries isn’t a private company. It’s a nonprofit industrial development corporation that has served as the county’s certified economic development organization since the mid-1950s. PMI operates as a subsidiary of the Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corporation, which receives annual funding from Monroe County Commissioners and works to attract businesses to the region.

Leonard holds dual roles as PMI’s executive director and PMEDC’s president.

When PMI and Orchard BJK filed suit on May 3, 2024, they argued that Coolbaugh’s supervisors acted arbitrarily, violated the Pennsylvania Constitution, and exceeded their municipal authority by expanding wetland buffers. The complaint claimed the ordinance change — which increased inner buffers by 100 feet and outer buffers by 50 feet — rendered approximately 500 acres of industrial-zoned land nearly worthless.

PMEDC’s internal appraisals told a stark story: before the August 2023 ordinance, PMI’s undeveloped Coolbaugh properties were valued at $30 million. After the buffer expansion, that figure dropped to $19 million.

“As of December 31, 2022, the total outstanding debt that remains attached to the acquisition, subdivision, development of these Industrial and Business Parks was $11,946,818,” Leonard wrote in an April 15, 2024 letter to township supervisors.

Tax filings showed PMI’s total net assets at negative $3,054,334. Leonard warned the organization faced potential “insolvency.” Marketing Director Michelle Bisbing told township officials that leadership had discussed “reforming their organization under a new name” if PMI couldn’t survive the financial hit.

25 Years of Investment at Stake

PMI’s Coolbaugh holdings represent a quarter-century of land acquisition and development that the organization hoped would finally pay off through warehouse construction.

The story begins in 1999, when PMI acquired a 247-acre parcel known as Senda — the former Worldwide Church of God convention site, which the church had owned since 1967 and used for its annual Feast of Tabernacles gatherings. The property sits between Routes 196 and 611 in one of Monroe County’s fastest-developing corridors.

PMEDC developed the site as Pocono Mountains Corporate Center East, eventually attracting tenants including Mountain Healthcare Center (which opened in 2003 as the first comprehensive medical facility in the park), Messer LLC, and Waste Not Technologies. The development received state support through the Keystone Innovation Zone program.

Shortly after acquiring Senda, PMI purchased the 600-acre Camp Tegawitha property across the street. That became Pocono Mountains Corporate Center West, where Johnson & Johnson Sales and Logistics Company opened a 1.4 million-square-foot facility in March 2007 — still the largest building in Monroe County. FedEx Logistics now operates the facility with approximately 400 employees.

But significant acreage remained undeveloped. Orchard BJK Company, a New Jersey-based developer, agreed to purchase PMI land for a 309,000-square-foot warehouse that would require a sewer line running beneath protected wetlands near Route 611.

Then supervisors changed the rules — and PMI’s exit strategy evaporated.

The Environmental Coalition That Tipped the Scales

PMI and Orchard BJK didn’t just face the township in court. Three conservation organizations successfully intervened in the litigation, adding legal firepower and environmental expertise to Coolbaugh’s defense.

PennFuture, a statewide environmental nonprofit, filed its intervention petition on June 20, 2024 alongside the Tobyhanna Creek/Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Association and the Tobyhanna Conservation Association. On December 9, 2024, the court granted all three groups full party status.

“This is an important step in TCTCWA’s continuing quest to protect our watershed’s most valuable streams and wetlands from death by a thousand cuts,” said TCTCWA President Geoff Rogalsky when the intervention was approved. “We acknowledge the need for economic development, but it must not be permitted in a manner where it will unquestionably degrade irreplaceable resources.”

The coalition filed preliminary objections arguing the lawsuit should be dismissed without ever reaching trial. The court agreed.

The legal theory was straightforward: under Pennsylvania law, plaintiffs challenging municipal ordinances must demonstrate actual injury. Since Orchard BJK had proposed only one project since August 2023, and the township hadn’t yet determined how to apply the buffer requirement to that proposal, any harm remained speculative. The developers were asking the court to invalidate an ordinance based on what might happen, not what had happened.

The DEP Permit Fight Continues

The court dismissal doesn’t end the warehouse battle entirely.

On December 17, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection held a contentious public hearing on Orchard BJK’s application to construct a sewer line beneath Exceptional Value wetlands for the proposed 309,000-square-foot facility.

State Representative Maureen Madden (D-Tobyhanna) testified against the permit, criticizing warehouse proliferation across the Poconos. Dozens of residents packed the hearing at Tobyhanna Elementary Center.

Supervisor Lynn Kelly — speaking as a township resident rather than in her official capacity — raised questions about who would pay if the sewer infrastructure failed.

“Who will be responsible for a catastrophic event in which the sewer line fails and pollutes our special protection waters?” Kelly asked. “The sewer lines are located in Coolbaugh Township. This means it will be part of our municipality’s Act 537 plan and DEP will expect Coolbaugh to correct any failures that occur. DEP will not go after the above-mentioned parties. Coolbaugh Township will have to.”

Leonard defended PMI’s approach: “We didn’t choose the site in a vacuum. We presumed that the township zoned it industrial, and so they wanted to see it be developed as industrial and that’s what we’ve done, because that’s our job.”

DEP has not yet issued a decision on the permit application.

The Bigger Picture: Warehouses Are Transforming the Poconos

Coolbaugh’s resistance has unfolded against a regional warehouse boom that residents say is fundamentally changing the character of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Lisa Buchholz, president of the Pocono Regional Citizens Group, has tracked the cumulative footprint. At a May 2024 township meeting, she rattled off the numbers: five warehouses in Kidder Township, two in Jackson Township, one 702,000-square-foot Core5 facility in Pocono Township, an 800,000-square-foot proposal pending in Tunkhannock Township, and 11 projects in various stages in Coolbaugh itself — some already built and sitting vacant.

“And these are 700,000 square foot facilities and more,” Buchholz told PMI officials. “One, two, up there is going to be two million square feet. That’s a lot of trucks that are going to be on our roads.”

Coolbaugh sits atop the Pocono Plateau at roughly 1,739 feet elevation, containing the headwaters of Tobyhanna Creek — a designated High Quality stream whose tributaries carry Exceptional Value classifications, the highest water quality rating Pennsylvania awards. These waterways eventually feed the Delaware River, supplying drinking water to millions downstream.

Township officials argue that protecting those headwaters justifies strong regulation, regardless of economic pressure.

“We’ve had a couple of stormwater systems fail and there’s been no accountability to any check-ups,” Chairman Bill Weimer explained at the May 21, 2024 meeting where supervisors debated strengthening protections even further.

Jim Miller of Coolbaugh Township Citizens for Responsible Growth supported the board’s stance: “What I’ve heard in PMI and Orchard’s presentations is an emphasis on business, not so much the environment. And I believe that what we’re talking about here is an emphasis on the environment.”

What’s Next for Coolbaugh

With the lawsuit dismissed and the appeal window now closed, township supervisors have explored additional tools to limit development pressure.

At a September 3, 2024 work session, representatives from the Pocono Heritage Land Trust and Trust for Public Land pitched supervisors on creating an open space fund through a voter referendum. The fund would allow the township to purchase undeveloped land and permanently protect it from construction.

Township Solicitor Patrick Armstrong said the November 2024 ballot deadline had already passed. But supervisors didn’t reject the concept for future elections.

“The public has come to us and wants us to maintain the status quo of what we have, the beautiful Coolbaugh Township, and right now the funding isn’t there,” Weimer said. “In order to make this happen, unfortunately we don’t have millionaires around that just are willing to donate lots and lots of land. So, it just gives us some options.”

When WVIA News asked Supervisor Kelly whether the open space discussion was connected to warehouse opposition, she didn’t deny it: “It’s in response to environmental protection. Because our public is saying they’re very concerned about protecting the environment.”

The question now is what comes next for PMI — an organization that admitted it was struggling to break even and warned of “insolvency” if the regulations stood — and whether Coolbaugh’s legal victories will embolden other Pocono townships to adopt similar protections.

The Monroe County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the lawsuit in late June 2025. The July 27, 2025 appeal deadline passed without public announcement of any appeal filing. This story will be updated if any new legal action is filed.