BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. – The Bethlehem Township Zoning Hearing Board denied three dimensional variances Wednesday night at the administration building.
The appeal, concerning property located at 3311 Farmersville Road, involves relief in the Streetscape Enhancement Overlay district. On July 17, 2023, commissioners approved final land development plans for a St. Luke’s University Health Network medical office building at the site.
The first dimensional variance involved street edge to have a setback from the designated streetscape enhancement right-of-way requirements. That requirement is no less than 5 feet and no greater than 25 feet.
The applicant, TSV-HPIII Lehigh Valley LLC, requested a setback of .78 feet from the designated streetscape enhancement. This correlates to a variance request for 4.22 feet.
The second dimensional variance involves rules requiring that street trees be provided at regular intervals along both sides of a designated streetscape enhancement right-of-way. TSV requested to allow street trees at irregular intervals along both sides of the designated streetscape enhancement right-of-way. This would have granted relief from the regular interval spacing requirement.
The third dimensional variance request involved a requirement that one street tree be provided for every 50 linear feet of lot frontage abutting each side of a designated streetscape enhancement right-of-way. Again, TSV requested allowing street trees at irregular intervals along both sides of the designated streetscape enhancement right-of-way, thereby seeking relief from the one street tree requirement for every 50 linear feet of lot frontage.
Steven Voell, an attorney representing St. Luke’s, called the witnesses. His strategy was to portray the variances as inconsequential. Jennifer Peters, a member of St. Luke’s real estate group, testified the two-story, 45,000-square-foot facility which is under construction currently would house eight practices, and failure to approve the variances would result in delaying providing medical services to the Bethlehem Township community.
Steve McBrearty, a civil engineer with the project, testified the reason for the variance requests was that a retaining wall was not constructed where approved during land development. Given the wall was built at the wrong location, it did not comply with zoning requirements, thus spurring the variance requests.
The engineer said that where the retaining wall was built would not impact public safety improvements associated with the project, and would not compromise the public safety, health and welfare. McBrearty added that by allowing the variances, St. Luke’s could plant trees, also required with the project, at locations that would not buckle the sidewalk which would be the result given the current location of the wall.
McBrearty testified the company did not find out about the error in construction until the wall had been built and placed that awareness in March of this year.
The evening’s final witness was Douglas Harwick, a land surveyor, who said it would cost St. Luke’s $518,400 to demolish and rebuild the wall. He acknowledged during his testimony that the project’s surveying “was not rigorous enough.”
One township resident opposed granting the variances.
“Why wasn’t this fixed in the last seven months?” Barry Roth asked. “…This should have been caught…and it should have been corrected.”
Zoners made the denials after a roughly 20-minute private consultation, and offered no reason for their verdicts.