PALMER TWP., Pa. — A plan to turn a former Crayola factory along the Bushkill Creek into apartments was viewed skeptically Tuesday by Palmer Township Planning Commission.
The building at 2025 Edgewood Ave. began its life more than a century ago as a grist mill before becoming the original crayon factory of Binney & Smith, the company now known as Crayola.
Most recently, Crayola leased the building for office space; it currently sits empty.
Now, Allentown-based developer Nat Hyman plans to turn it into Water’s Edge, a 108-unit apartment building composed of studios and one-bedroom units, each designed for a single tenant.
"We don’t cater to children… we cater to young professionals, older folks — people who live alone.”Allentown-based developer Nat Hyman
The planning commission declined to make a formal recommendation on whether developers should get a pair of zoning variances: one letting residences on the industrial-zoned land, and another permitting smaller apartments than typically allowed.
The apartments “are beautiful, they’re nice, but they’re small,” Hyman said. “We don’t cater to children… we cater to young professionals, older folks — people who live alone.”
'They're essentially trapped'
Hyman said that he intends to leave the outside of the structure as it is, aside from new windows and fresh paint, and preserve the interior as much as possible.
Tuesday’s sketch plan review is among the first steps toward realizing those plans, and gives township planning commission members a chance to offer preliminary feedback on the project.
“They are changing use from a low life-safety problem to a high life-safety problem.”Palmer Township Fire Commissioner Stephen Gallagher
Members used that opportunity to echo concerns first raised by township Fire Commissioner Stephen Gallagher that firefighters could not reach one side of the building in an emergency because it directly abuts Bushkill Creek.
“They are changing use from a low life-safety problem to a high life-safety problem,” Gallagher said, as a workplace people can evacuate more quickly becomes residences people are slower to leave.
“Anybody that has an apartment unit that abuts their rear window or balcony against the waterway, they're essentially trapped if they don't respond properly, in a timely manner, to a fire alarm or smoke detector,” he said.
'The world has changed'
A lawyer for the applicant, Steven Goudsouzian, pointed to plans for an improved sprinkler system in the structure and other recent apartment buildings in the area that are not accessible to fire crews on all four sides.
Commissioners and township staff also mentioned the risk of flooding the Bushkill Creek poses.
Parts of the development not used for housing, such as the gym and mail room, will lie in the 100-year floodplain, Hyman said.
The variances for industrial land use and apartment size are essential for the project to move forward.
An exemption allowing housing in the industrial zone, in particular, is “by definition a tough variance to get,” said the commission’s solicitor, William Oetinger.
“You have an extra layer here: the variance is primarily economic in nature, which is not the preferred method.”
Unless it can be used for apartments, Hyman and Goudsouzian argued, the building will sit empty as the market for office spaces suffers amid post-coronavirus pandemic shifts in office use.
“The world has changed," Hyman said. "I don’t know what else you would use this for."
