Meeting to gather public input on Allentown’s 5-year housing plan sparsely attended

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The thoughts of just a few residents could end up playing a role in the city’s housing plans for the next five years.

Austin Knudsen, a consultant with Michael Baker International, on Monday led a two-hour online “feedback and listening session,” during which a handful of people offered their perspective on issues that will form the basis of the city’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan.

That plan sets “strategic goals” and lays out how officials will try to use the city’s funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through 2029, Basker said.

“Your feedback helps the city decide how to best use its [federal] entitlement funds,” Knudsen said.

Allentown got more than $3 million in 2024 from various HUD funding sources, including the Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and Emergency Solutions Grant.

The city must use that money to provide affordable housing, create a suitable living environment for residents or stimulate economic growth.

It also must provide a yearly update to HUD via an Annual Action Plan, as well as a five-year Consolidated Plan.

Figuring out Allentown's 'housing future'

At its peak, the Monday evening virtual meeting had a dozen attendees, but more than half were city employees or part of the project to develop the five-year plan.

That left four residents to ponder almost 20 complex prompts, such as determining the most important infrastructure for low- to moderate-income families, the biggest barriers to affordable-housing development and potential regulatory fixes.

The prompts also asked residents to list how they think climate change could affect public infrastructure, economic development, affordable housing and homelessness.

Kyle Ropski, who leads Allentown’s Environmental Advisory Council, warned of short-term climate change effects, such as extreme weather.

Heavy rains place significant strains on stormwater systems in urban areas covered by paved surfaces, Ropski said. He said bridges, green spaces and trails also could be at risk.

Ropski called for better public transportation throughout the region and for the city to promote alternatives to cars.

Another resident suggested a $500 annual fee for each car as a way to reduce the number on Allentown’s streets.

And Bob Weir suggested relaxing the city’s sometimes strict regulations for developers working in historic districts.

Those regulations, enforced by the Historical Architectural Review Board — which Weir referred to as the “Hysterical Society” — drive up the cost of repairing and building in those areas and discourages developers from improving the city’s housing stock, he said.

The meeting Monday evening was the first of two scheduled this week to collect public input on Allentown’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan.

The city is set to hold another meeting from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, on Microsoft Teams.

Officials also are asking residents to complete a 28-question survey to help shape the city’s “housing future.”