October 1, 2026  

To: The Board of Supervisors  

Silver Spring Township  

8 Flowers Drive  

Mechanicsburg, PA 17050  

RE: Formal Objection to Conditional Use Application CU2026-6 (Proposed Temple at  7108 Wertzville Road)  

Dear Members of the Board of Supervisors,  

Please accept this formal statement as the official objection to Conditional Use Application  CU2026-6, which proposes the construction of a 52,000-square-foot institutional facility and a  50-foot tower at 7108 Wertzville Road, Mechanicsburg, PA. As township residents, whose property abuts the proposed build site, we urge the Board to deny this application on the grounds that it fails to satisfy the specific burden of proof required under the Silver Spring zoning ordinance. Section 804(B) of the zoning ordinance mandates that any proposed conditional use must meet specific criteria. We argue that this application fails to meet that criteria and should therefore be denied. 

While houses of worship are vital community institutions, the immense scale of this specific  facility—52,000-square-feet—compounded by high-traffic regional festivals and a constant  influx of daily visitors will place an unsustainable burden on local infrastructure. This project  directly threatens public health and safety, detracts from the established and intended use,  value, and quiet enjoyment of our properties and local wildlife, and forces a disruptive, negative  

transformation upon the character of Glendale Estates, and the residents of Glendale Drive.  

Wertzville Road is already home to religious houses of worship. However, the proposal under  CU2026-6 is exponentially larger than the existing churches and community centers. To argue  that this proposal is comparable to the existing properties is not meritorious. Given the scale of  the structure proposed, it is logical to presume that both regular visitors and special events will  garner far greater attendance than anything Wertzville Road has seen before.  

Mechanicsburg’s proximity and central location within the Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and  tri-state corridors shifts the project profile from a local place of worship to a high-density regional  destination. Comparable temple facilities regularly draw staggering crowds of several thousand  to upwards of 10,000 multi-day visitors during major events. For instance, a four-day annual  festival at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Pittsburgh attracted over 5,000 attendees from July  31 to Aug 3, 2025. d This documented regional impact proves that the proposed development  will place an unsustainable burden on local municipal services, demonstrating a fundamental  incompatibility with the infrastructure capacity and rural character of the immediate area. (Please see the attached table and demographic chart.)  

General Criteria under Section 804(B)  

● Ordinance Consistency: The proposed use must be completely consistent with the purpose and intent of the Zoning Ordinance and will not substantially impair the integrity of the Township’s Comprehensive Plan. The SS TWP 2025 Comprehensive Plan explicitly identifies Rural Residential areas as vital to maintaining the township's

traditional rural landscape. Development is restricted to preserve open vistas, natural  resources, and environmental buffers. Because Rural Residential areas typically lack public  water and sewer utilities, the Comprehensive Plan notes that development must be strictly  limited by the natural "carrying capacity" of the land.  

Introducing a 52,000-square-foot institutional facility with a 50-foot tower introduces a high density, commercial-scale footprint into a designated rural preservation corridor. Given the vast size of the structure and hardscape proposed, we contest that the proposed temple plus rectory, parking lot, roads, and tower does not comply with the Plan’s goals of maintaining a rural  landscape or open vista.  

The property, located approximately 1.5 miles from the Appalachian Trail at Deer Run crossing, is zoned Rural Residential (RR). A dense forest block acts as a vital highway for large  mammals. Heavy construction, tree clearing, and the introduction of a massive permanent  structure will fragment this habitat. This forces species like black bears, white-tailed deer, and  coyotes out of their established paths.  

The Blue Mountain ridgeline is a globally recognized, premier migratory pathway for birds of  prey. The nearby Cumberland Valley Overlook is famous for seasonal counts of migrating bald  eagles, golden eagles, and various hawk species. The heavy machinery noise, blasting, and  tree removal during construction will cause severe nesting disturbance. Furthermore, once  constructed, a 50-foot tower can disorient migratory birds flying at night, increasing the risk of  fatal collisions.  

Wildlife relies heavily on acoustic and visual cues for survival, mating, and foraging. The intense  decibel surges from construction equipment—followed by the multi-day outdoor amplified  sound, and massive crowd noise during regional festivals—creates a hostile acoustic  environment. Additionally, the high-intensity floodlights required to secure large evening parking  lots and illuminate the temple will cause severe light trespass. This constant artificial glare  permanently disrupts the nocturnal behaviors of local wildlife, including owls, amphibians, and  native mammal populations. c 

● Neighboring Property Protection: The use cannot detract from the standard use and enjoyment of adjoining or nearby properties. The SS TWP 2025 Comprehensive Plan targets lighting and noise control specifically to shield Residential Estate, Rural Residential, and Environmental zones. Development along scenic areas, particularly properties near the Appalachian Trail corridor, face directives to eliminate light pollution. The Plan outlines goals to preserve quiet environments in areas adjacent to parks, conservation lands, and residential developments. 

The Glendale Estates subdivision directly abuts the northern property line, leaving homes along  Sailfish Drive facing the proposed development. Real-world precedents like the Sri  Venkateswara Temple in Penn Hills prove that large-scale, multi-day celebrations (such as the  Srivari Varshika Brahmotsavam) naturally expand into outdoor processions, and overflow  spaces. For Glendale Estates, this constant influx of thousands of regional visitors will shatter  the area's quiet, low-density character. Outdoor crowd spillover, amplified vocalizations, dining  tents, and high-intensity evening lighting will directly strip adjacent residents of their visual and  acoustic privacy, resulting in substantial light trespass and permanently disrupting the  neighborhood’s serene identity. 

The proposed temple falls directly within the protected Appalachian Trail Viewshed of the  Cumberland Valley Overlook in State Game Lands 170. This overlook is officially designated as  a critical, "Very High" scenic inventory point. Because properties on the north side of Wertzville  Road sit squarely within this panoramic sightline, local comprehensive preservation rules strictly  restrict high-contrast white exteriors, tall towers, and disruptive night lighting. The applicant’s  design prominently features all three restricted elements, threatening to permanently degrade  this protected natural landscape. b  

● Neighborhood Character: The proposed use will not affect a change in the character of the subject property’s neighborhood. 

The serene, natural views currently enjoyed by residents—particularly those with homes along  Sailfish Drive facing this site—will be replaced by industrial-scale event infrastructure. Major  celebrations inherently require massive outdoor dining tents, staging, and temporary decorative  structures. This creates a highly commercial, high-intensity visual footprint that is completely  incompatible with an abutting, quiet residential enclave. 

The regional festivals associated with a facility of this magnitude feature multi-day outdoor  processions, amplified sound, and massive crowd noise. Because the applicant’s layout places  these activities close to our shared property lines, this severe noise will directly penetrate our backyards and homes, stripping us of the basic peace we are entitled to under the law.  

Evening festival operations will require high-intensity floodlights and extensive parking lot illumination to safely manage large crowds. This will create significant nighttime glare and light  trespass directly into the windows of adjacent homes, erasing the dark-sky environment valued  by our rural residential community and disrupting local wildlife. 

● Public Health & Safety: Adequate public facilities (emergency vehicles, sewer/water and other utilities, vehicular access) must be available to serve the proposed use. 

The proposal poses a significant threat to public safety by compromising emergency response  times. Wertzville Road (Route 944) is a two-lane corridor that already experiences heavy traffic.  The influx of vehicles during major festival events will result in immediate gridlock. Because  there are no dedicated deceleration, turning, or stacking lanes proposed for the site, vehicles  will back up directly onto the public right-of-way. This traffic congestion will prevent emergency  medical services, fire trucks, and police from navigating the corridor efficiently, delaying life saving response times to both the temple site, Glendale Estates and homes along Glendale  Drive. Many medical professionals, who are frequently “on-call” reside in Glendale Estates.  Traffic gridlock will significantly delay their crisis response times.  

While a typical weekly congregation has predictable wastewater flows, a multi-day festival  multiplies water usage and sewage surge volumes. An on-lot system designed strictly for  baseline operations will face catastrophic overload during peak events, threatening the  groundwater table shared by adjacent residents who rely on private wells. Given that public  sewer infrastructure is not extended to this property, a thorough hydrogeological study and soil  testing (perc tests) are mandatory to prove the land can sustain a high-capacity commercial on site septic system without damaging the local groundwater table.  

The project has not demonstrated compliance with the regulatory frameworks of Pennsylvania  Act 537 (the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act) which mandates that all municipal land 

developments establish adequate, long-term wastewater planning and infrastructure. Because  the property lacks public sewer infrastructure, it is restricted to a septic system managed under  local sewage regulations. While a standard septic configuration might support daily staff  operations, the massive, irregular hydraulic surges generated by multi-day regional festivals will severely shock the system's capacity. Overloading an un-networked septic field risks systemic  failure and immediate groundwater contamination. Because the adjoining residential properties  in Glendale Estates rely exclusively on private water wells, this wastewater shortfall constitutes  an unmitigated threat to public health and clean water access, violating the fundamental utility  capacity standards required for a conditional use approval. a 

In addition to the traffic and wastewater-management concerns described above, the project  fails to meet the environmental standards as the introduction of a 52,000-square-foot facility along with extensive impervious hardscape and a parking lot will significantly eliminate natural  soil absorption, causing accelerated stormwater runoff that will overload local drainage basins  and cause potential severe flooding. 

Conclusion  

The applicant has failed to satisfy the General Criteria outlined in Section 804(B). The proposed  structures directly contradict the Comprehensive Plan’s goals of preserving a low-density rural landscape and open vistas. This development will adversely affect the standard use, value,  character, and quiet enjoyment of adjoining and nearby properties. It will adversely affect the  local wildlife. The applicant has not demonstrated that the massive structure will protect the  Appalachian Trail's scenic viewshed from severe degradation. Most concerning, by failing to  present adequate measures to manage traffic flow and large-scale wastewater surges, this  application introduces unmitigated risks to our shared water supply, roadway safety, and local  emergency response times putting township residents in danger.  

We therefore respectfully request that the Board of Supervisors uphold the standards of  Section 804(B) and deny the CU2026-06 application.  

Thank you for your time, leadership, and continued dedication to protecting our community.  

Please see signature page for those supporting this letter. 

a https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/programs-and-services/water/clean-water/wastewater management/act-537-sewage-facilities-program 

b https://appalachiantrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Cumberland-County-Data-Center Viewshed-Map.pdf 

c https://www.welshwildlife.org/how-wildlife-can-be-harmed-development 

d https://southasianherald.com/thousands-attend-four-day-annual-religious-event-at-sri venkateswara-temple-in-pittsburgh-pa/