ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Review of one township’s zoning amendment proposal was green-lighted.
Another hit a stop sign.
Applications by Palmer and Upper Mount Bethel townships for amendments to their zoning ordinances were among seven reviewed Tuesday by Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Planning Committee.
Palmer Township’s zoning amendment proposal regarding warehouses and single-family, detached residential dwellings was reviewed without issue by the commission.
Conversely, Upper Mount Bethel Township’s zoning amendment proposal was not embraced by the committee.
It determined the township’s requested change to its Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, or SALDO, “does not align with the intent of FutureLV: The Regional Plan,” which is the Lehigh Valley’s vision through 2050.
The zoning request is related to the River Pointe Logistics industrial park development planned in the township. Plans for the project submitted to the LVPC consist of 12 industrial buildings, or warehouses, totaling 5,873,000 square feet on 804 acres on the site of the former Portland Generating Station electric plant.Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
The zoning request is related to the River Pointe Logistics industrial park development planned in the township.
Plans for the project submitted to the LVPC consist of 12 industrial buildings, or warehouses, totaling 5,873,000 square feet on 804 acres on the site of the former Portland Generating Station electric plant.
Residents have voiced concerns over the project, citing increased traffic, water and sewer issues and negative environmental impacts.
The committee on Tuesday also reviewed amendment applications by Hanover Township regarding “developments of regional significance,” stipulations for tobacco stores and smoke and vape shops in Slatington, fees in Wilson and Forks Township and single-family cluster development in Bushkill Township.
The full planning commission will meet at 11 a.m. Thursday, an hour earlier than usual because of the holiday.
'We want orderly growth'
Long delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, which impacted the opportunity for public input, the committee was in favor of Palmer Township’s plan addressing warehouses and single-family, detached residential dwellings.
The proposal establishes two warehouse subcategories based on size: Small warehouses with gross floor area less than 25,000 square feet and large warehouses larger than 25,000 square feet.
The proposal also requires truck parking amenities, including electrical outlets, driver lounges and parking space requirements appropriately sized for commercial vehicles.
"I can't speak highly enough of the job the new planning staff in the township has done."Timothy Fisher, resident, Palmer Township
"I heartily agree with this new zoning ordinance," said Timothy Fisher, a resident at The Highlands at Glenmoor, a 55-plus community in the township.
"We want orderly growth, not just warehouses around us. I can't speak highly enough of the job the new planning staff in the township has done."
The housing zoning proposal focuses on a range of types in several zoning districts and overlay districts.
Single-family detached dwellings at varying densities are the primary housing type permitted in the Rural Agricultural, Low-Density Residential and Medium-Density Residential zoning districts.
The High-Density Residential and Neighborhood Commercial zoning districts allow a greater variety of housing types, including townhouses and twins.
Three of the proposed overlay zones also allow a greater variety of housing types: the William Penn Highway Overlay, Freemansburg Avenue Overlay and Eastern Gateway Overlay.
Other recommendations
The committee was not in favor of Upper Bethel Township’s proposal to exempt the requirement of preservation of certain environmental features because two zoning districts are adjacent to the Delaware River, in an area containing highly sensitive environmental features.
The planning committee recommended that Hanover Township alter the definition of “Development of Regional Significance” to “Any Land Development” that, because of its location, would have substantial effect on the health, safety or welfare of residents in the Nazareth Area Council of Governments.
The committee approved Slatington’s zoning proposal for smoke and vape shops that limits those locations no closer than 1,500 feet to a school, church, library, public park, child care facility, residential district, medical or healthcare building or similar smoke shop.
The committee also reviewed without question the Bushkill Township application to amend a zoning ordinance to remove single cluster development as a permitted conditional use in the rural residential district.
