PALMER TWP., Pa.- A real estate developer is seeking a zoning change to build several industrial buildings on land that includes one of the last remaining farms in Palmer Township.
The Charles Chrin Real Estate Trust has submitted a challenge and a curative amendment to the township, requesting that the land be rezoned from Rural Agriculture (RA) to North End Business (NEB).
The 41-acre parcel butts up against a more than 50-acre parcel in Upper Nazareth Township that’s also owned by Chrin.
Proposed site on the Palmer Township side
LVPC, using Google aerial imagery
The company wants to build ten industrial buildings on the combined property, Palmer Township Planning Director Craig Beavers told 69 News. According to Beavers, the parcel on the Palmer side is one of only five remaining farms in the township.
Chrin has argued that the parcel has become reverse spot-zoned; Upper Nazareth recently re-zoned the 50-acres on its side as part of an “Assembly and Distribution Zoning District,” where, according to township code, light manufacturing and warehousing and distribution are permitted uses.
Palmer Township’s Rural Agriculture (RA) zoning does not allow for industrial or warehousing uses.
The combined 91-acre site on Tatamy Road / Main Street (the name of the road changes when traveling from Upper Nazareth to Palmer) sits between Nazareth Area Intermediate School and a residential neighborhood to the west, and an industrial corridor with several warehouses and distribution centers to the east.
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) reviewed the proposal as part of its comprehensive planning committee meeting on Tuesday and did not offer its support.
The LVPC noted that, Chrin’s argument that the parcel should be rezoned to match “the industrial character of the area” is only accurate to describe the area east of the property.
“The proposed curative amendment, if enacted, would create potential land use conflicts that would have substantial quality of life impacts on the nearby residences and educational facility uses as well as adverse impacts on the existing environmental features on the site, and is therefore not recommended for adoption,” wrote Chief Community and Regional Planner Jill Seitz, in the review presented to committee members.
During the meeting, LVPC Commissioner Chris Amato also raised concerns about the karst geography of the area; sinkholes have opened on Tatamy Road / Main Street several times in recent years.
He proposed amending the draft review to include a recommendation for a geological study before moving ahead with development. The motion was approved.
Palmer Township’s planning commission is scheduled to review the request for the curative amendment at its meeting on March 10.
The township’s board of supervisors, which will have the final say, has scheduled a public hearing on the matter for the following Monday, March 16, at 7 p.m. at the township municipal building at 3 Weller Place.
In 2023, Lehigh Valley Industrial Park proposed building an industrial park on the Upper Nazareth tract, but township supervisors voted against the zoning change that would have been needed for the project.