ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Planning Committee, during a review Tuesday of Lower Saucon Township’s newest rezoning proposal for a potential expansion of Bethlehem Landfill, was told the plan doesn't align with broader regional initiatives to "protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.”
- The proposed expansion would involve 275.7 acres across seven parcels
- The township is asking for landfill use there as a permitted use by right
- LVPC opposes, citing negative impacts to the environment and public welfare
The township is looking to amend its zoning map to rezone seven parcels from Rural Agricultural to Light Industrial, and is asking for landfill and waste disposal uses to be permitted by right instead of the usual special exception required.
The amendment also calls to exempt waste facilities on those properties from the site plan approval process “if it will require land development approval under the Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and a permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,” an LPVC official wrote in a review letter.
LVPC Senior Community Planner Jillian Seitz said the land involved totals 275.7 acres, “between Riverside Drive to the north, Bull Run Creek to the northeast and Applebutter Road to the south, adjacent to the existing Light Industrial Zoning District and Bethlehem Landfill.”
Besides the six parcels to the north and northeast of the current dump, a seventh property proposed for rezoning is along the western boundary of the LI district on Skyline Drive.
“Landfills and waste disposal facilities are high-intensity land uses that have significant social and environmental impacts, and impacts to residents and-or the environment resulting from expanding and increasing operation must be cautiously scrutinized and mitigated."Jillian Seitz, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission senior community planner
Seitz said the proposed ordinance changes don't align with broader regional initiatives “to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.”
“Landfills and waste disposal facilities are high-intensity land uses that have significant social and environmental impacts, and impacts to residents and-or the environment resulting from expanding and increasing operation must be cautiously scrutinized and mitigated,” Seitz said.
LVPC reasoning
Seitz argued LVPC's case by citing greenhouse gas assessment results from a landfill’s release of methane gas and carbon dioxide, effects on land as seen in the results of an open spaces assessment, and even health risks to nearby residents and a decline in their property values, according to a Penn State study.
And since a state source has concluded that special exceptions and conditional uses should be reserved for land uses resulting in potential impacts on public welfare, Seitz said the township’s request wasn’t sound.
“The text amendments propose eliminating these safeguards and review processes, which is not a best practice for managing development,” Seitz said.
“Preserving natural resources in a given area does not necessarily work as a one-to-one trade for environmentally sensitive features existing in the area proposed for development, and risks fragmentation of natural landscapes and greenways."Jillian Seitz, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission senior community planner
The amendment changes also would involve a “natural resource mitigation alternative,” she said.
With township council approval, developers in the LI district could go beyond the net buildable site area, using more natural resource protection land than would be allowed otherwise — but only if the applicant would dedicate the same amount of land to be preserved.
“Preserving natural resources in a given area does not necessarily work as a one-to-one trade for environmentally sensitive features existing in the area proposed for development, and risks fragmentation of natural landscapes and greenways,” Seitz said.
The five northernmost parcels are in a “character-defining area,” containing woodlands, steep slopes and “natural heritage inventory core habitats,” she said.
Officials said those areas ideally would call for parks and open space, woodlands, agriculture and smaller developments to highlight the surrounding landscape.
“The LVPC strongly recommends that the township prioritize retention of natural features as an essential characterizing attribute in the area near the Lehigh River,” Seitz said.
One of the larger parcels called for rezoning is identified as “open space” in the township’s land use and housing plan. It should instead feature some kind of conservation or recreation project, Seitz said.
Resident comments
Lower Saucon Township Councilwoman Priscilla deLeon, a Steel City resident, said the landfill owners “didn't do their homework” when they bought properties unable to be used for dumping trash.
“Since this area is so vulnerable to these washouts, it just doesn’t seem responsible to have a landfill there at all, let alone to expand this one."Lynn Hill, area resident
Resident Lynn Hill said a storm this month caused a severe washout, and the landfill’s potential for erosion puts neighbors at risk.
“Since this area is so vulnerable to these washouts, it just doesn’t seem responsible to have a landfill there at all, let alone to expand this one,” Lynn said.
Steel City resident Russell Sutton said water from those types of storms comes down from the landfill, runs past the railroad tracks and eventually into the Lehigh River.
Sutton said certain landslide conditions could also block roadways and emergency vehicle access, endangering residents and requiring helicopters to fly in for medical calls.
Lower Saucon Council President Jason Banonis later provided state Department of Environmental Protection input in a separate meeting, saying the landfill wasn’t to blame for the landslide.
The council plans a public hearing on the newest proposal at 9 a.m. Aug. 30.
LVPC will hold its full committee meeting on Thursday at 7 p.m.
