Bethlehem developer Abe Atiyeh can’t find the right fit for his property at 530 Milford St.

After various failed attempts to develop the property, Atiyeh will go before the Palmer Township zoning hearing board Tuesday and ask for permission to put in a self-storage facility.

A previous developer got permission to build medical offices in 2008 but never followed through.

Atiyeh bought the property in 2018. He leased the lot to a third party to store tractor trailers. The township got a court order in 2020 to have 50 tractor trailers removed.

Then, Atiyeh got permission in 2022 for an 84-unit apartment building. That plan is “infeasible and undesirable in the development market,” Atiyeh wrote in his development application to the township.

Nobody wants to build apartments because the plot is zoned for heavy industrial use but abuts a residential neighborhood, Atiyeh wrote.

Atiyeh said he found a partner willing to develop a modern, climate-controlled self-storage site he calls “a reasonable and functional use for the property.”

Storage facilities are not permitted by right in the heavy industrial zone, so Atiyeh needs zoning approval to move ahead. He wants permission to build the facility 50-feet high rather than the 35-foot limit for that area.

A lower height will mean an “inefficient, spread-out design with greater earth disturbance and reduced buffers,” he wrote. Atiyeh got permission for the height variance when the apartments were approved, according to his application.

Atiyeh needs a waiver from the requirement for 111 parking spaces. His plan calls for 23 spaces. The storage facility will have limited demand for parking, the application says.

And he needs permission to put in a 120-square-foot half digital sign.

Atiyeh is slated to appear at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, before the zoning hearing board in the lower level of the township building at 3 Weller Place.

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