Blair County Planning Commission members Thursday gave a favorable review for an expansion project for Kulp Family Dairy on Cove Mountain Road in North Woodbury Township.

The proposed project includes construction of three forestall barns, milking buildings, staging area, waste storage pond, associated gravel and paved areas and stormwater controls.

According to the project narrative, the expansion will contribute to growth and viability of agriculture in the county and region.

The project will add almost 1 million square feet of impervious surface. The application includes detailed plans, including infiltration and detention basins, for erosion and sedimentation control and post-construction stormwater management, said consultant Jeff Raykes of Stuart Group Consulting, Indiana, who reviewed the proposed project.

It is reasonable to anticipate the project will increase shipments of products from and deliveries of supplies to the farm.

The application does not describe the nature and extent of changes in traffic. The application should indicate if there will be impacts to either of two roads — Cove Mountain Road and Millerstown Road — accessed by the farm and if any changes in driveway access points are needed. Significant changes in trips using the driveway on Cove Mountain Road could trigger a need for a new PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit, Raykes said.

For the most part, the large acreage of the farm buffers surrounding areas from visibility and noise impacts. To the south, a freestall barn and adjacent infiltration basin abut the property line of a neighboring property with a residential dwelling.

The townships subdivision and land development ordinance requires a landscaped buffer in such situations. The applicant requested a waiver of buffer requirements on the basis that the surrounding community is accustomed to normal farm operations, and provision of a landscaped buffer takes land from productive farm use, Raykes said.