LOWER MACUNGIE TWP, Pa. — Two mixed-use development proposals are moving forward after getting recommendations from the Lower Macungie Township planning commission.
The projects, the Lehigh Valley Town Center and the North Krocks Road Mixed Use Development, are in the early stages.
- Development applications were discussed and recommended at the most recent Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission meeting
- If approved and built, Lehigh Valley Town Center and the North Krocks Road Mixed Use Development would bring significant retail, residential and entertainment spaces to the township
- The developments will have to go through different phases of approval with township boards and other agencies before being built
One of the developments, The Lehigh Valley Town Center, is a 58.8 acre mixed use facility proposed by Jaindl Land Co. neighboring Interstate 78 and Route 222.
The project would be at 4511 Cedarbrook Road and 361 Schantz Road. It is proposed to contain an outdoor recreational anchor, mid-size grocery store, gas station, hotel, parking deck, stand-alone apartment buildings and several large mixed-use buildings with both retail and apartments.
The outdoor recreation center is set to be a Topgolf entertainment center, which has locations in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and throughout the country.
Jaindl Land Co. has done other projects in the region, such as the Movie Tavern plaza and Trexler Business Center.
The exact number of apartments proposed has not been set.
The land now is an open field and cleared former industrial space, previously owned by Eastern Industries.
The applicants are requesting a zoning change to allow the mixed-use development on the area, which now is in a highway enterprise zone, saying the location's access to highway interchanges make it a prime spot.
Lower Macungie Director of Planning and Community Development Nathan Jones said a lot of smaller steps need to happen for the proposal to move forward with the formal zoning modification.
"It's very much in its infancy," Jones said.
The board unanimously recommended modification of the zoning ordinance for the project, dependent on addressing issues such as light pollution and working to establish operating hours.
A conditional use hearing is set to be scheduled for the development at which further discussion on architecture and other specifications will be put before the public and township officials.
Apartments and retail looked at for Krocks Road
Another proposal examined, also a mixed-use residential and retail pitch, is planned at the 54.4 acre site at 617 N Krocks Road.
The project already was allowed as a conditional use, meaning it is further along in the process than the Lehigh Valley Town Center project. Jones said he expects a public hearing in February and approvals from agencies such as the state Transportation Department, Department of Environmental Protection and other government agencies would be needed.
Jones said it is being developed by a New Jersey group through the Lower Macungie Township Mixed Use LLC.
The proposal lists 318 apartments with a clubhouse, pool, dog run and sports courts, as well as retail, a grocery store, a gas station and a 160-room hotel. A 19,800-square-foot retail, dining and service space also is proposed in the plan.
The development plan was recommended unanimously by the board, dependent on requests such as addressing comment letters by township officials, alleviating site access concerns for emergency vehicles, installing a stop sign at North Krocks and Cetronia roads and addressing light pollution concerns.
Jones said the township recognizes there is a housing shortage and the developments would continue to let the township offer diversity in housing options.
"There's a number of steps, but our job here at the township levels is to facilitate the process, streamline it as much as possible and make sense of it for residents," Jones said. "And work with both the applicants and the surrounding neighbors, whether they're commercial or residential."
Jones said that even if the projects move along at a good pace, it is difficult to tell how long the process to approval and eventually construction could be.
He said seeing such proposals is emblematic of the growth of the township and the preparation through ordinances and other initiatives taken in advance by the local government.
"Former staff who started this trailblazing process long before we were here all recognized that as the township matures and is one of the largest and most built-out townships in the in the overall Lehigh Valley area, that seeing more infill-style development and more urban-style development would eventually be a possibility," Jones said.
"Where we stand right now is, in our thoughts, really the culmination of years worth of good planning."
