NORTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — About 70 new apartments are coming soon to North Whitehall, and more may be right behind them.
The township Planning Commission reviewed a preliminary/final plan for Phase II of Timberidge Luxury Apartments, a planned apartment complex near Main Street and Levans Road.
The township Board of Supervisors approved Phase I in August. That section will have six three-story buildings and a total of 72 units.
Phase II of the plan would have four apartment buildings with 12 units each, or 48 total. That would bring the total number of units across both plans to 120.
The phase of the development would be on 6.8 acres at 2356 Levans Road.
Developer Lee Goldstein also plans to build a self-storage facility adjacent to property and a small community center that would be shared by the complexes.
The planning commission tabled the plan, meaning it gave feedback but did not take official action. A revised plan will come before the commission again in the coming months.
More parking, traffic
Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Al Geosits, who also sits on the planning commission, asked engineer Lew Rauch if he could add parking spaces to the plan.
Currently, it includes 2.5 spaces for every unit, as required by township land use laws.
“You run a fine line between trying to accommodate the occasional event to having just another sea of pavement.”Engineer Lew Rauch
Rauch said the 2.5 space requirement is standard.
“Some [municipalities] have had required three [per unit], which I think are a bit excessive,” Rauch said. “You run a fine line between trying to accommodate the occasional event to having just another sea of pavement.”
Some residents from nearby properties asked whether the township could do a traffic study on nearby intersections to see if the development would cause more congestion.
Planning Commission Chairman Brian Horwith said the township would not be able to require the developer to make significant improvements to those intersections based on a traffic study.
Rauch said construction of Timberidge Luxury Apartments Phase I will begin in the spring.
Township building renovations up for final approval
Planners also recommended final approval to the plan for the township building renovations.
The township Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to grant the plan final approval at its next meeting on Feb. 5.
The project’s estimated cost is just over $5 million. It is slated to be finished by May 2025.
Township Manager Randy Cope said construction is expected to begin in June. During construction, all township staff except the Public Works department will be relocated.
Cope said he is finalizing the lease on their new location and will announce it when the agreement is finalized.
The renovated building will have a larger meeting room in a different location, a multipurpose room and more office space.
The first floor will also have a vestibule with a transaction window for the tax collector’s office, with drop-off boxes and will be open to residents after hours.
The plan also uses the second-floor space, which now is vacant, and provides more space for growth.
