ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh Valley Planning Commission gathered Thursday in person — and in its new location — for the first time in more than four years.
The officials present laughed and joked at times, with others acknowledging they had not until now had the opportunity to meet members of the group, given the use of Microsoft Teams to run the majority of their commission and committee meetings since March 2020.
"They're coordinating things so they can achieve these broader goals. And it's so important because of the amount of growth. And this is the only way for them to be able to say, like, you know what? We need this to stay farmland. So let's not allow a lot of high density uses there, right?"Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Executive Director Beckey Bradley
They also took time to praise the multi-municipal plans being undertaken by municipalities in the Slate Belt, Northwestern Lehigh and River Central areas of the Lehigh Valley.
The latter two got special notice because of their taking on shared zoning burdens, meaning within two years of the official plan being approved, each municipality has to update its zoning in accordance.
That lets the burden of allowable use to be shared and fine-tuned among the different municipalities, and has been spoken of as a key tool against undesired development such as large warehouse developments.
Weisenberg Township shared its comprehensive zoning update while others, such as Slatington and Washington Township, did so at prior meetings, with the rest coming before the LVPC for recommendations soon.
'Important because of the amount of growth'
LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley said that while multi-municipal plans have existed in the Lehigh Valley before, such as the Nazareth Area and Southwestern Lehigh plans, the zoning efforts are new and very exciting.
"It's not just about doing the plan now," Bradley said. "Now they're actually going forward and saying, OK, let's figure out what land uses we're going to want to trade.
"So they're coordinating things so they can achieve these broader goals. And it's so important because of the amount of growth.
"And this is the only way for them to be able to say, like, you know what? We need this to stay farmland. So let's not allow a lot of high density uses there, right?"
Also discussed was the recently released regional greenhouse gas inventory report, along with final recommendations to the maligned Kernsville Road warehouse development that was proposed prior to the township's new zoning regulations as part of the Northwestern Lehigh Multi-Municipal Plan went into effect.
All moved in
Bradley said the new in-person meetings are currently scheduled to take place quarterly, with another in December before deciding whether to move forward with them.
"We have to develop all kinds of policies, all kinds of implementation processes and projects and procedures, and we're getting ready to, you know, do strategic plan update and other things, so they need to be able to have those conversations," she said.
Staffed praised the new space, and said they were thankful they were moved in after a months-long process.
The move originally was agreed upon last year, with many members praising the security features and improved infrastructure of the new Lehigh River waterfront building at 615 Waterfront Drive.
At the same time, some from Northampton County, led by County Executive Lamont McClure, discussed the possibility of pulling the county out of the commission as a result of the higher rent involved in the move.
