BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. — Allowing a proposed two-building, 120-unit garden apartment project an extra story and nine more feet of building height would give the developer financial room to improve the site, township zoners decided Wednesday.
That also would improve stormwater mitigation and the surrounding streetscape, zoners decided.
Regarding his team’s vision for 4406-4418 Easton Ave., Duane Wagner, of Orion Real Estate Development LLC, said using another developer's previously approved project footprints while adding 24 extra units in one of the buildings would support the more than $1.6 million in necessary site work.
“The building we're proposing, aesthetically fits in there a little better than something that is a little more suburban, right on that commercial front."Duane Wagner, of Orion Real Estate Development LLC
Once built, and considering the lot's topography, the new buildings will stand at a similar height as the previous plan's three-story ones.
“The building we're proposing aesthetically fits in there a little better than something that is a little more suburban, right on that commercial front,” Wagner said.
Wagner said many of the project’s details have yet to be finalized, but the construction process could last 24-30 months.
Leeway on height
Zoners voted unanimously to allow Orion two dimensional variances to township ordinance that normally would cap buildings in the area at three stories or 36 feet, whichever is less.
The almost four-acre property — in the General Commercial and Commercial Enhancement Overlay District districts — is near Easton Avenue and Farmersville Road, across from Blue Grillhouse and just down from Notre Dame High School.
It’s currently home to a junkyard and vacant commercial space that would have to come down as part of the project.
An under-construction medical office building and other commercial and industrial uses all are close by.
Wagner said Orion holds an agreement of sale with the current property owner, which appears to be MES-SIL Enterprises, according to Northampton County property records.
Orion first pursued the property in 2024, Wagner said.
He said that while his team explored other potential uses for the site — such as another medical office building or two fast-food restaurants — the proposed one would come with the “least impact” to the community.
Attorney Lincoln Treadwell, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said the plan addresses existing site problems regarding stormwater and grading.
It also maintains the neighborhood’s character and would bring the site up to a conforming status, minus the approved variances, Treadwell said.
Effects on traffic, flooding in area
Compared with the 96-unit development, the 120-unit development would add 154 additional vehicle trips per day and not represent a significant change in traffic, said Peter Spisszak, senior project manager and certified planner with Traffic Planning and Design Inc.
The garden apartment project generally bodes better for the nearby roadways, Spisszak said.
Comparing other potential site uses, he said a 45,000-square-foot office building would generate about 200-250% traffic, while a 307-498% increase would come with fast-food restaurants.
Developers envision handling what they said was more than 850 acres of stormwater drainage nearby by conveying it around the edge of the property.
As planned, the water would run parallel to Easton Avenue, turn down Farmersville Road and through a culvert to Nancy Run — that’s the four-mile tributary flowing through Bethlehem Township and Freemansburg.
“It is a flooding area — it’s terrible. But to put in two 5-foot culverts in there, and then they’re going to go into the Nancy Run? Wow, I can’t imagine that.”Bethlehem Township resident Tom Keefer, on the project’s proposed stormwater measures
“It is a flooding area — it’s terrible," township resident Tom Keefer said of the project’s proposed stormwater measures.
"But to put in two 5-foot culverts in there, and then they’re going to go into the Nancy Run? Wow, I can’t imagine that.”
Another resident, Denise DeMena, said such an approval sets a precedent for other developers looking to build in the township.
“If we start letting people build four-story, five-story buildings, I mean, this no longer is the township," DeMena said.
"That’s more like a city after awhile.”
