ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Allentown City Council voted Wednesday night to adopt an ordinance to update the name of the two-acre dog park along the Trout Creek Parkway.
The dog park is being renamed Judge Memorial Dog Park at Dixon Street. It was previously known as the Dixon Street Dog Park.
The park was renamed in honor of Judge, a 14-year-old Labrador Retriever who served the Allentown Fire Department’s first arson K-9 unit.
In addition to the name, the park ordinance was amended to eliminate the need for users of the dog park to obtain and use a key fob for entrance.
In other business, Council President Santos Napoli announced he is referring the proposed bill on affordable workforce housing -known as Bill 82- back to a special meeting on November 11, when the Community and Economic Development Committee Budget will be discussed.
The proposed ordinance would establish affordability requirements for certain new construction of multifamily rental housing developments that receive public incentives or assistance, including tax abatements under a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) Program, receive at least $250,000 in City Housing Trust Fund funding, or acquire or utilize publicly owned or controlled land subject to certain exemptions.
The concept is to ensure that the public incentives, financial assistance, or land resources generate a corresponding public benefit through the creation of additional rental housing opportunities affordable to moderate-income households accessible to the city’s workforce.
The administration previously objected to the advancement of the bill during budget season because there hasn’t been sufficient financial analysis on establishing a LERTA.
No council members objected to Napoli referring the bill to the special meeting.
The special meeting on Nov. 11 will begin at 5:30 p.m. and is part of the council’s ongoing review of the budget with specific city departments.
The special meeting will review budgets for law, human resources, information technology, the mayor’s office, non-departmental expenses, and the Community and Economic Development Department.
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