MINUTES OF ZONING HEARING BOARD MEETING

The zoning hearing board of Palmer Township met on Tuesday July 1, 2008, at 7:30 P.M. in the Palmer Memorial Library, One Weller Place, to hear the following appeals. In attendance were Nicholas Noel III, Esq., zoning board solicitor, Charles Roseberry, board chairman, Cherie Kavanaugh and Daniel Caravetta, board members, R. Margaret Kennedy, alternate, John A. Embardino, zoning officer, and court reporter Ted Rewak. The media was represented by Chris Knight of the Express Times and Madeline Mathias of the Morning Call.

A correction to the second of a motion made by R. Margaret Kennedy to approve the minutes of May 6, 2008 was made. The motion was originally seconded by Charles Roseberry and is now amended to record Daniel Caravetta as a second to the original motion, with all in agreement.

Daniel Caravetta made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 3, 2008 meeting and the minutes of the special deliberation meeting of June 9, 2008. This motion was seconded by Cherie Kavanaugh, with all in agreement.

08-21 7:30 p.m. David Hohl, 2713 Plymouth Drive is seeking relief from section 190-211 E (7) (d) [4] in order to construct a retaining wall that will not meet the setback requirements. The premises are located in a Low Density Residential zoning district.

WITNESSES: David Hohl

ACTION: A motion was made by Daniel Caravetta to grant a variance for this wall, but the setback is to be set back a minimum of three feet from the rear property line. The motion was seconded by Cherie Kavanaugh, with all in agreement.

08-22 7:40 p.m. Deborah Miller, 359 South Broad Street, Nazareth, PA is seeking a special exception pursuant to section 190-38 E in order to operate a child day care business at 3905 Freemansburg Avenue, located in a Medium Density Residential zoning district. In addition, the application is seeking variances from sections190-210 C (16) (c) and (f) requiring a one hundred foot setback from residential property lines and restricting the number of children to a maximum of 20.

WITNESSES: Deborah Miller, Mario Famularo, Stanley Margle, Esq., Don Frederickson of Environmental Engineers.

ACTION: Mr. Margle made a request to amend the application to a maximum of 42 children as mandated by the Department of Public Welfare. A motion was made by Cherie Kavanaugh to grant the special exception as a day care center and the variance requests setting the setback from a residential lot line at 66.2 feet and limiting the number of children to a maximum of 42, with the final number of children to be determined by the DPW. The applicant must also provide a clear and safe sight triangle at the western driveway exit and the hours of operation to be set at 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. All signage is to meet ordinance regulations. This motion was seconded by Daniel Caravetta, with all in agreement.

Following the hearings pursuant to the applications above, the zoning board convened for the purpose of deliberation concerning the following appeal pursuant to a zoning hearing on April 1, 2008 and the continuance heard on June 3, 2008, with no further testimony being heard.

08-20 Easton Area School District, Joseph Kish, Acting Superintendent, 1801 Bushkill Drive, Easton, PA, is seeking a determination pursuant to section 190-199, that a bus storage operation at Tracy Elementary School located at 1243 Tatamy Road is an accessory use to the school. In addition, the school district is seeking relief from section 190-168 C (3) which restricts aisle length in a parking area to 200 feet. This request is an amended application and a continuance of a hearing of April 1, 2008. Tracy Elementary School is located in a medium density residential zoning district.

ACTION: On a motion by Daniel Caravetta to deny a special exception to expand a nonconforming use and to deny variance relief for such expansion due to insufficient information supplied by the School District to such relief. Due to the denial of the expansion of the nonconforming use application, the various dimensional variances sought were denied as moot. The motion was seconded by Cherie Kavanaugh, with all in agreement.

Having no further business to discuss, the hearing was adjourned.

John A. Embardino

Zoning Officer