Before a standing-room-only crowd, North Whitehall supervisors on Monday turned down a developer’s plans to build a 55-plus active-adult community on part of the Strawberry Acres farm.
The unanimous vote was a setback for a New Jersey developer’s proposal to construct the residential community on about 23.6 acres of the 140-acre farm at 5007 Overlook Road. But a lawyer for the developer said that’s not the end of the proposal and he will discuss with his client, Py Patel, the next step.
The land is zoned agricultural/rural/residential, which includes a provision for a 55-plus overlay district. That means such a development could be permitted as a conditional use.
Previously, the developer appeared before the township Planning Commission and offered three alternatives:
*Three buildings with 36 units apiece for a total of 108 units. The buildings would be three stories high.
*Four buildings with 27 units for a total of 108 units.
*84 units allowed “by right” spread over multi-family and townhouse structures. “By right” development is permitted under current zoning.
Before the supervisors’ vote Monday, one resident in the crowd of at least 100 people said the neighbors do not want “high-rises” in their neighborhood, and another objected to a proposed sewer treatment plant that would serve the development.
“I don’t want a sewage system in my backyard where it’s currently planned,” said resident Dan Nemeth. Such a plant would smell and make noise that would annoy neighbors, he said.
“Our [property] values will go down in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 percent minimum,” Nemeth said.
Resident Bill Moyer said he felt the neighbors’ main objection was that the buildings would be “high-rises” of three stories. He said he wouldn’t object to ranch homes for people age 55-plus.
“We want people who take pride in their homes…and fit in with our neighborhood,” Moyer said.
Thomas Dinkelacker, a lawyer who said he represents a group of residents called Friends of Laurelwood, said the group isn’t in favor of the development but is willing to see if it can find common ground with the developer. He said people have the right to develop their land so long as it is in accordance with the township zoning ordinance.
Richard Brent Somach, the South Whitehall Township lawyer for developer Patel, told the supervisors that his client is willing to waive the requirement that North Whitehall act on the proposal within a certain time frame and instead would favor a continuance until the end of January.
Somach said his client is still waiting to hear back from the Lehigh County Authority on whether it would be willing to run a sewer treatment facility that would be built on-site.
But North Whitehall Supervisor Steve Pany said there were too many questions about the plans that the developer hasn’t resolved.
“The whole thing is just dragging on and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight,” Pany said.
Supervisor Chairman Ronald Heintzelman cited several zoning requirements that the proposal would not meet before the supervisors voted to deny the plan.
After the vote, Somach said the age-restricted development would benefit the township because it would bring in additional tax revenue without putting additional strain on local schools with more children.
It would “offer a lifestyle that doesn’t exist in this township,” Somach said.
The developer is willing to discuss paying for road improvements to help with additional traffic on Overlook Road, he said.
“I think they were foolish not to grant the continuance,” Somach said.
He said the township ordinance requires the development to have a public sewage facility and the developer agreed. But now the supervisors don’t want to give him enough time to find out if Lehigh County Authority would agree to operate it.
“You can’t make up the rules and then switch them,” Somach said.
Margie Peterson is a freelance writer.
