PALMER TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The regular monthly meeting of the Palmer Township Planning Commission was held on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. with all members in attendance except Young and Stoneback. Also present were Planning Director Cyndie Carman; Engineers Brian Dillman and Brian Harman; Solicitors Charles Bruno and Christy Schlottman and Supervisor Liaison Robert Lammi. Chairman Grube convened the meeting by leading those present in the Pledge to the Flag.

Approve minutes from April – There was no meeting in May - On motion by Rickert, seconded by Grandinetti, and agreed by all, the minutes of the April meeting were approved as written.

Finegan Funeral Home – William Penn Highway – Owner John Finegan and his engineer Don Frederickson were present with plans to have a funeral home in the property at the corner of William Penn Highway and Edamy Street. This is a former restaurant. There will not be a change of footprint but they will be removing the deck. They will be creating a new parking lot and they are proposing the closing of the access from William Penn Highway. The operating hours would be less hours than a restaurant so there won’t be constant traffic, pedestrian and vehicular, as was there before. Frederickson noted this is just a sketch plan and they are aware they have major zoning issues to be satisfied such as parking. They propose parking behind the building which is pre-existing and there will be parking in the front. Frederickson noted that if they have to go by the required sight triangle at intersection they will loose parking spaces. Also, if they have to go with the required dedication of right-of-way along William Penn Highway they will lose a significant amount of parking. They stated there is off premises parking and they are proposing their entrance and exit will be from Edamy Street. There is an alley in the back which they plan to utilize. There will be an exit driveway there. This has been used in the past. Frederickson noted they will be installing at the east boundary line significant landscaping. Rickert stated she felt there is not adequate parking and Finegan spoke about the other 3 homes he has which are located in residential areas. He noted he could use these other larger funeral homes for larger funerals. He also stated that everyone uses the parking on the street if no off-street parking is available. Rickert stated she felt it was a good use but was concerned with the parking in neighborhood. Frederickson stated they have spoken with neighboring commercial businesses to see if they could use their parking lots if necessary. He also noted that they would need to utilize the police for people crossing William Penn Highway. Wilkins feels this is an issue. Some Commission members felt that when it was a restaurant/bar there were a lot of people in and out at late hours. Bruno noted a lot of their issues are with the zoning and they have to get approvals from them first. Frederickson noted he would meet with the engineer to discuss some of these issues. Supervisor Lammi spoke that he felt this was a good idea but he is concerned with trying to get parking off site. He is very concerned with people crossing the roadway. This is a big problem. Commission thanked the gentlemen for attending and look forward to working with them in the future.

First Baptist Church of Easton – Greenwood Avenue – Pastor Gilmore and Attorney Paul Harak were in attendance representing First Baptist Church. Harak stated the plans that were submitted were not created for this application but created to move the modular classroom for the Sunday school onto the church property in 2008. Gilmore stated that the day school has always been in operation and they never have more than 20 students. They then received a call from the zoning officer stating they can’t have 2 principal uses on one lot. They had to appear before the Zoning Hearing Board and this variance was denied by that Board. This is now in the courts for a decision but they determined that they need to file a conditional use request to have the school and church on one parcel and that the site is not a large enough parcel for what they are asking for. Harak stated they received the township engineer’s review letter and noted there are a number of issues to revise and that they have to clean up their plan. Harak verbally extended the deadline until the end of August for the township to make a decision on this plan. At this time Don Frederickson, who is the engineer that drew the plans, noted that there is a statement in the zoning ordinance that some of these issues can be approved by the zoning officer. Harak stated they will meet with staff on these issues. Rickert asked if the bus storage is a permissible use. Bruno stated this is something that should be checked and Gilmore stated they do have three buses and they are used for the church not the school. What about maintenance on these buses? Is it done on-site? They should check with the zoning officer on the bus parking issue. If he does not approve this than this will be another issue that will have to go before the Zoning Hearing Board. Wilkins asked about the lease area. Gilmore stated that they still lease it but they don’t use it much. Every summer they have a tent revival there. Carman asked when the original trailers were put on the leased parcel and Harak stated in 2003 they had the original special exception use for the trailers. The applicant has quite a lot of issues to get straightened out before they should come back to this Commission. On motion by Rickert, seconded by Wilkins, and agreed by all, with no comments by the audience, the Commission voted to table action on this plan.

Planning Director’s Comments – Carman noted that the applicant for Woodridge Falls requested that both the land development plan and the proposed text amendment be removed from the agenda tonight. They have a lot of work to do on the plan and Bruno has a meeting with the applicant’s attorney tomorrow. Carman noted she would like to have something in writing and distribute to all of what they are asking for and what the impact would be for the township. Dillman distributed notes for consideration of proposed zoning ordinance text amendment.

Lammi discussed with the Commission a model ordinance that the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission has been discussing that has to do with density bonuses. He is concerned with the possibility of spot zoning, that it helps the contractor/developer and how does it affect the whole township? We have to protect the integrity of our ordinances.

Lammi also stated that the LVPC had a training session recently and the attendance for this portion of the county was very small. If they had a session locally would anyone be interested? Commission members stated they would be. Lammi is working on this.

Public Comment – none

On motion by Rickert, seconded by Grandinetti, and agreed by all, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Diane Grube, Corr. Sec.