EASTON, Pa. — Lafayette College officials have resubmitted plans to the city after deforesting a slope on College Hill for a $1.2 million walkway project without city approval.
- Lafayette College has resubmitted plans after deforesting a portion of College Hill for a $1.2 million walkway
- The college deforested the slope without city approval
- LehighValleyNews.com has submitted a Right-to-Know request to view the new plans
The college submitted the plans May 26, city Chief Zoning Administrator Dwayne Tillman said in an email Friday. The application is currently under review by the engineering department.
LehighValleyNews.com on Monday submitted a Right-to-Know request to view the resubmitted plans, as well as reached out to Lafayette for comment.
Tillman on May 15 sent a letter to the college, notifying officials that the walkway project had deforested a portion of a slope without city approval.
It has come to the attention of this office that the removal of trees and vegetation on the steep slope of the hill that leads to Lafayette College has exceeded the supplied information on the approved project submittals.Easton Chief Zoning Administrator Dwayne Tillman, in a letter to Lafayette College
“It has come to the attention of this office that the removal of trees and vegetation on the steep slope of the hill that leads to Lafayette College has exceeded the supplied information on the approved project submittals,” Tillman said in the letter.
The area included the hill behind the William E. Simon Center for Economics and Business on campus to the Karl Stirner trailhead at North Third Street, accessible by steep steps and visible from Downtown.
The letter outlined a 15-day deadline to resubmit new plans or a stop work order would be issued. The letter cited the city’s steep slope conservation ordinance, which aims to mitigate sedimentation and erosion.
The original plans, approved by the city June 14, 2022, and viewed through a Right-to-Know request at City Hall in late May, show the vast majority of the trees would be retained. Instead, more than 40 trees, along with a slew of foliage and shrubs, were cleared.
In early May, the city’s Environmental Advisory Council voted unanimously to send a letter of concern to city council, citing the negative effects of clearing shade trees, as well as soil erosion and sedimentation concerns.
In response to a request for comment in late April from LehighValleyNews.com on the deforestation on the campus, college spokesperson Bryan Hay said clearing the area was necessary for construction of a multimodal elevated walkway to connect the city’s Downtown and College Hill neighborhoods.
“Most of these trees were removed because they were dead, dying or created safety concerns due to the extent to which they leaned over pedestrian walkways,” Hay said in an email. "Because of the ways [the walkway] will improve the connection between the city and the neighborhood, this work is supported by a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Multimodal Transportation Fund.”
The project is earmarked to be completed by mid-August, less than two years after Lafayette announced it had received a $869,694 grant to create a multi-use trail extending diagonally across the slope. The college committed a 30% match, or $372,726, toward the grant for a project total of $1.2 million, according to a news release announcing the funding.
