LOWER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — A plan to develop nearly 59 acres into a housing, retail and entertainment complex moved a step closer to fruition Tuesday night as the township planning commission recommended approval for Jaindl Co.'s Lehigh Valley Town Center project.
It includes more than 500 apartments, a TopGolf facility and 180-room hotel.
- The Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission gave a recommendation for the Lehigh Valley Town Center project, including its TopGolf facilities, for a future conditional use hearing
- The project is slated for a July 20 review by township commissioners and a conditional use hearing
- The full approval is contingent on a set of various conditions by the township which will be addressed at the conditional use hearing
Planners recommended granting conditional use approval for the 58.8-acre site that neighbors Interstate 78 and Route 222. Township commissioners will consider the proposed development and could approve it at their July 20 meeting.
The planning commission tabled action at their May meeting due to lacking an engineer review, and discussed separating the TopGolf portion of the plan from the rest.
But their recommendation Tuesday night included the entire development. Still, township Director of Planning and Community Development Nathan Jones said TopGolf would like to proceed as soon as it is able once the approval process is completed.
Besides the golfing attraction, the "town center" proposes to include an aquarium or nature center, theater, hotel, grocery store, retail and hundreds of apartments.
A presentation by Luke Jaindl featuring various land development phases and aesthetic concepts was given to the board, with the applicants noting that specifics may change based on the requirements of future tenants, such as number of parking spaces.
Through the presentation, Jaindl emphasized green spaces and a “walkable town feel.”
Applicant representatives also said they’ve engaged with various local and national architecture and design consultants such as the firms Streetsense and Nelson, saying to create “a community, a town center that has a sense of place, a sense of purpose, is what we’re striving for.”
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Included in the written documents the planning commission reviewed earlier for the project at 3612 Schantz Road and 4511 Cedarbrook Road were more specific features than what was presented before, such as:
- 165,000 square feet of retail space
- 180,000 square feet of office space
- 514 apartment units
- 180-room hotel
The township commissioners recently passed zoning amendments to the Highway Enterprise Zone regulations, allowing the project to move forward with next steps through the standard conditional use process.
Various conditions discussed
The planning commission's recommendation is contingent on many conditions and requested additions that will be more finalized in time for the conditional use hearing.
Some specifics, related to design, glare considerations, and exact site layout were acknowledged as subject to change as the approval process continues.
Based on the Tuesday meeting's outcome, township director of planning and community development Nathan Jones said that at this juncture, the current list of specific conditions are no longer applicable as written and will be modified by the township working with the applicants prior to the Board of Commissioners meeting in July, where the conditional use hearing will take place.
One of the township’s requested additions was no less than 20% of roof area for structures on the site shall have roof dining, terraces, bars or public and private access spaces be included. Applicants stated that was not something they could commit to at the time, saying that they wished to see it but that it depends on tenants and the cost of installation.
“I know that that is something that is very high on the wish list, very high on the wish list for when we get to the hearing. So I just want to make it abundantly clear that that is something that we will probably hear about again, so anything that we can do to make that happen is very high on leadership's wish list,” Jones said.
“I think it would be high on anybody's wish list. But unfortunately, this climate, outdoor rooftop bars are tough, and they don't work. It was proven down at the Promenade. They just don't work,” Dave Jaindl said in response.
Another requirement was questioned by the applicants that all dining have outdoor al fresco dining, wishing for greater clarification.
“I don't know that every operator would do that for example,” applicant attorney Erich Schock said. ”For everyone to have to, it just that gets a little daunting and takes away a little flexibility.”
“I think we're looking at two situations here. One is again, the discussion point of trying to activate the streetscape and make sure that there's outdoor dining,” Jones said. “And then, the world kind of forced us to go outside for a short period of time. And should we ever find ourselves in that situation again, or something similar to it, it would allow for business continuity.”
The project also has to comply with regulations of the township, the DEP and Lehigh County Conservation District for creek restoration on the site.
The applicants noted that guarding a nearby cemetery with a class C buffer as an agreed priority that the township shared.
"I think everybody in this room can agree that we’re trying to preserve the sanctity of the two cemeteries as much as possible,” Jones said. “We’ve heard from the church that manages one of them [the two cemeteries] and we just want to make sure that there’s zero impact to them.”
As for a timeline, David Jaindl said developers are working on an accelerated pace, but did not wish for a hard requirement of the condition that the beginning of construction on the mixed-use portion would take place within three years of the conditional use hearing.
“We're running a million miles an hour, and we're not stopping,” Jaindl said. “You just don't know what life is going to bring you.”
An additional considered condition, as a result of feedback the township received from emergency service providers due to the site’s density and nearby traffic, is to have an emergency services substation or area for service for easy access of a fire or medical emergency.
Developers said they would consider that, but seeing that proposal for the first time they said they were unable to state if they could commit.
