ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown officials are set to hold three public meetings this week to get more feedback from residents as they work to rewrite the city’s zoning code.
Open houses are scheduled for 6: p.m. Tuesday at the East Side Youth Center, Wednesday at Fearless Fire Company and Thursday at Theatre514.
Residents also can speak to planning and zoning officials from 9-11 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday at City Hall.
Officials revealed the first look at the proposed “comprehensive update” in late April by publishing the ZONEAllentown page on the city’s website.
“This initiative will ensure that Allentown's zoning regulations reflect current needs and future growth, allowing for more housing production and promoting a vibrant, walkable, and sustainable urban environment."Allentown officials
The site shows the proposed zoning code and changes to regulations for subdivision and land-development projects.
The new ordinance is meant “to clearly convey the city’s expectations for new development and redevelopment activities going forward,” according to an explanation on the site.
“This initiative will ensure that Allentown's zoning regulations reflect current needs and future growth, allowing for more housing production and promoting a vibrant, walkable and sustainable urban environment,” officials said in a news release Monday.
Also in the works is a new zoning map that’s “based on current building patterns in the city.”
It also lays out “a new vision for areas of the city that can be expected to change in coming years,” according to the ZONEAllentown page.
Bring the code in line
Officials started the zoning-rewrite project in 2021 to streamline the city’s approval processes, encourage development in some locations and update its design standards for new projects.
Allentown employees, a special advisory committee and the city Planning Commission reviewed the proposal before it was published this spring.
The new zoning would “better align the city’s current development-related ordinances” with Allentown’s Vision 2030 Comprehensive Plan and “provide a more modern regulatory framework for the future,” Planning Director Jennifer Gomez said in April.
The update is meant to bring the code in line with what exists today rather than changing what some areas of the city will look like, she said.
Officials said they hope the zoning overhaul also leads to more available and affordable housing in the city.
Residents can submit their comments and ideas through an online survey on the ZONEAllentown page.
The survey asks whether the overhaul should make it easier to build affordable housing and if residents should have “greater flexibility” to run businesses out of their homes.
Drive-thru lanes, off-street parking and equipment for alternative energy — such as electric-vehicle charging stations, solar panels and small wind turbines — also are covered by the survey.
