Palmer Township Planning Commission

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

The regular monthly meeting of the Palmer Township Planning Commission was held on June 13, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. with all members in attendance except Tom Grube (Wilkins arrived late). Also present were Planning Director Amanda Jensen, Engineer Brian Dillman and Solicitor Charles Bruno. News media was represented by Sara Mausolf of the Express Times. Vice-chair Rickert convened the meeting and led those present in the Pledge to the Flag.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING – On motion by Grandinetti, seconded by Stoneback, and agreed by all, the minutes were approved as written.

CHRIN COMMERCE BUSINESS CENTER -Tatamy Road – Final Plan – Mr. Charles Chrin and Mr. Peter Joyce of Gannett Fleming were in attendance. Joyce said they received preliminary approval in April 2003 and the final plan is before both Palmer and Tatamy this evening. Joyce said an inter-municipal sewer agreement was required and is why the lapse of time between preliminary approval and now. Joyce said they are still waiting for the highway occupancy permit from Penndot. Joyce said the plan is for 11 building lots for use as office or industrial under PO/IP zoning in Palmer Township. Joyce said six lots are in Tatamy Borough and five are in Palmer and they are three to seven acre lots. Joyce said there is access on Eighth Street in Tatamy Borough and also an extension of McFadden Road from the Palmer Industrial Park. Joyce stated the subdivision plan includes a total of 13 lots. Two residual lots are mostly being used for a storm water detention basin. Joyce said an additional lot to the north is for a future project of potential commercial downtown development which is north of Main Street. Joyce stated they have no issues with the township engineer letter dated June 9, 2006. Joyce asked about the grading requirements outlined in the letter and explained how they plan to grade the lots. Dillman said their interpretation of the grading is correct. Joyce asked about an offsite intersection that wasn’t included in the plan at VanBuren and Main Street. Joyce said their plan was to make sure Penndot was okay with the plan and then they will submit it to the township. Rickert asked about their schedule for improvements. Joyce said an NPDES permit was issued and some initial ground work, storm water management, and surface drainage has been done. Joyce said once we receive final approval we plan to go full speed with improvements. Chrin said streets are down to grade and they are ready for sewer. Young asked about open space and asked if it isn’t usually included in the township engineer letter. Dillman said they don’t usually get that. Joyce said the area adjacent to the storm water pond Mr. Chrin would like to leave for potential future development. Joyce said the township requires 5% of buildable area required for recreation and Mr. Chrin would like to keep that space for future development and possibly work with the township regarding a recreation contribution. Joyce said in the past we had discussion of some passive recreation area but we would like to not commit to that now. Joyce said since that discussion the township extended the sewer interceptor to the pump station and it has now opened up an area for sewer connections that could be developed that wasn’t possible in the past. Joyce said we would like to discuss a donation in exchange for the recreation area. Young said with this change obviously the Recreation Board hasn’t had an opportunity to see the revision. Young asked for other changes since the preliminary approval. Joyce said the changes include the Eight Street interchange, a new power pole in Met-Ed right-of-way, a change in the drainage channel along Rt. 33 right-of-way which is an alternate to the original concrete ditch. Joyce said the change was approved by the conservation district. Rickert asked for additional comments from the Board. Young said he feels we need to include in the motion recreation fees need to be negotiated with the township. Bruno said the township engineer letter talks about dedication of easements and asked if an easement agreement was prepared. Joyce said it should have been submitted with the plan. Bruno said he didn’t receive a copy but could review it in conjunction with the Board of Supervisors review. Rickert asked if there will be any escrow for municipal improvements. Joyce said he assumed each municipality would handle their own. Bruno said the township engineer can make recommendations. Dillman said most concern will be the street access on Tatamy Road. Joyce said they still need to address that with Tatamy.

On motion by Young, seconded by Stoneback, and agreed by five, Wilkins absent, the Commission voted to recommend conditional final approval for Chrin Commerce Business Center conditioned upon the applicant fulfilling the conditions outlined in the township engineer letter dated June 9, 2006, fulfilling the township departmental comments dated May 24, 2006, and the Board of Supervisors to determine the fees in association with open space for recreation.

TUSKES/LAUBACH – Bethman Road – Palmer/Bethlehem Townships – Sketch Plan – Mr. Charles Tuskes and Wayne Doyle of VanCleef Engineering were in attendance. Doyle said the sketch plan straddles both Palmer and Bethlehem Townships and includes 45 lots in Palmer and 22 lots in Bethlehem Township. Doyle said they are looking at vacating Laubach Lane and a portion of S. Nulton and providing a connector road through the development. Rickert asked if it presents a problem to the church getting into their parking lot and athletic fields for their recreation programs. Doyle said we are still working with the church to work on their access. Doyle said the existing sight distance is bad at Laubach Road and Bethman Road. Tuskes said he wanted to see what the township thinks about the plan before they go to the church. Young said the church will need access to their fields. Tuskes said something will have to be made available to the church near Route 22. Rickert asked if half of the roadway would revert to the church and the other half to Tuskes. Tuskes said they would convert it all to the church. Rickert asked about ownership of pieces of property on Laubach Lane by Rt. 22. Tuskes said on one side there is a small strip that Seiple owns and he believes on the north side the township owns it. Dillman said he believes the piece on the north side is owned by the state. Tuskes said that would certainly have to be addressed. Doyle said they met with Bethlehem Township and they prefer us to go with a cluster subdivision and eliminate one entrance off of Bethman Road. Tuskes said this changes the lots in Bethlehem Township to 20,000 square foot lots instead of one acre lots as originally proposed and provides an additional 10 lots. Lammi said he feels the extension of Church Road will be safer than the existing situation. Young said you are now going to put a tremendous flow of traffic from the church out of two exits instead of three. Young asked about the open space in Bethlehem Township. Doyle said he believes Bethlehem Township wants the land. Young said he would like to know what they are looking for because it will affect how we look at the open space requirement for the Palmer portion. Bruno said the Bethlehem Township boundary line goes through lots on the plan and asked if those lots are in conformance with Palmer ordinance. Doyle said they comply with Palmer ordinances. Bruno asked that something be put on the plan that these addresses be in accordance with Palmer ordinances and that the households are part of the Easton Area School District. Young asked how far they have gone regarding traffic control. Doyle said they are looking for comments from Planning because we haven’t proceeded with a traffic study as of yet. Jensen said she is concerned about speed on the extension of Church Road and would recommend as many driveways as possible be moved off of the main road. Rickert asked how residents will feel about a 60 foot wide road as a major thoroughfare. Jensen said the road will be 36 feet with 60 feet right-of-way. Grandinetti said it will only be used heavily when church is in session. Dillman said we really won’t know the impact on the road until it is in place. Young asked about the light that was previously discussed for Greenwood Avenue and Hartley. Lammi said the light was changed to the Milford and William Penn Highway intersection. Rickert said it sure will need one now. Lammi said future development will determine the need for that light. Bruno said the church’s impact is only two days a week. Tuskes said history shows three quarters of our buyers will be from New Jersey and will be heading toward Rt. 33. Bruno said the developer is asking for feedback from this Commission regarding vacating the road. Bruno said another thing to take into account is when the church was in front of us we felt a third access was required and now that is going to be eliminated before the church has an opportunity to react to it. Rickert asked if the poor visibility at Laubach Lane and Bethman Road could improve with your plan. Tuskes said it’s not likely. Tuskes said he can run either way, with Laubach Lane or without it. Young said we should know the church’s input too. Tuskes said if the church agrees with abandoning the road I need to know if the township is okay. Rickert said the only sticking point we have is if Laubach Lane should be closed off. Jensen asked if she could attend the meeting with the church. Stoneback asked if the Church Road extension will stay if Laubach Lane doesn’t get vacated. Tuskes said yes they would both be in the plan. Young reviewed the five properties that will need side driveway access. Wilkins said he has a concern regarding walking traffic from kids in the neighborhood who will be coming over Rt. 22 to get to the township community center and township fields. Wilkins asked if a walkway or sidewalk could be provided. Jensen asked them to review options that could increase pedestrian safety over the Rt. 22 bridge for residents to walk from the development to the community center. Lammi suggested the Planning Director send a letter to the Bethlehem Township Planning Director to review some of our Planning Commission concerns. Dillman suggested the developer also find out if Bethlehem Township wants the open space as active or passive use.

ROUTE 248 MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING – Preliminary/Final Plan – Mr. Buckl of Buckl Architects, Mike Waldron of Ott Construction and Dr. Salib the applicant were present. Buckl said the site is on Rt. 248 adjacent to the existing Easton Hospital radiology building. Buckl said it includes an existing driveway off of Rt. 248 and they would like to maintain that entry. Buckl said it’s a straight forward medical building that is a mixture of glass and brick with the second floor being larger than the first floor which will provide some covered parking for handicapped patients. Buckl said parking is proposed on both sides of the lot. Waldron said the site is 1.4 acres and he referred to the June 9, 2006 township engineer review letter. Waldron said the township engineer letter is requiring adjacent access from Kingston Road and they are currently working with Penndot on this. Dillman said if Rt. 248 is the only access to the site you will need to require a zoning variance. Dillman said from a traffic standpoint access from Nightingale Drive is something we would like to see you explore. Dillman said this will be part of a medical campus and it would eliminate the access off of Rt. 248 which is already heavily traveled and stacks up with traffic. Jensen said you may also be able to explore shared access in the drive already off of Nightingale. Waldron said another issue was regarding road widening. Waldron said he isn’t clear on this. Dillman said there is road widening for sidewalk, curb, and street trees that goes with the improvements. Waldron said Penndot doesn’t always require it. Dillman said Penndot will permit it but you need to address it with the township. Buckl said our intent would be to stay consistent with what has been done in the past. Dillman said on the plan you should show the widening, sidewalk, and street trees and you can always ask for deferrals. Waldron asked for input on off street loading areas and said most medical buildings don’t receive large deliveries. Dillman said this is also a zoning issue. Dillman asked if Penndot is going to require a left turn lane into their driveway off Rt. 248 south. Dillman suggested they ask if a left turn lane is necessary. Waldron said it wasn’t brought up at our meeting with Penndot. Wilkins asked if it is important to have Rt. 248 access. Buckl said yes, we would like to maintain a safe and reasonable access off the main road. Wilkins said he feels it would be easier for the average person to get in and out of the complex on Nightingale. Rickert said she agrees it is safer to use Nightingale than Rt. 248. Lammi said the Board of Supervisors has asked Pidcock to look into putting in a traffic light at VanBuren and Rt. 248. Lammi said he would have to agree about the concerns with access off of Rt. 248 because the traffic is not going to get lighter it is only going to get worse. Lammi said the small manufacturing that was previously done on this site generated very little traffic compared to what this office will generate.

On motion by Young, seconded by Wilkins, and agreed by all, the Commission voted to table action on this plan.

PLANNING DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS – Jensen said she will be speaking at the Kiwanis Club meeting tomorrow morning. Jensen said tomorrow evening DCNR will be holding a meeting at Lafayette College and she and Tom Grube will be attending.

PUBLIC COMMENT – None

On motion by Young, seconded by Grandinetti, and agreed by all, the meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Brenda DeGerolamo/

for Diane Grube, Corr. Sec.