BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. – The Bethlehem Township Board of Commissioners informally advanced a zoning text amendment petition Monday night at the administration building.

The zoning amendment (see pages 25-30) would allow for a convenience store with fueling positions at 4850 Freemansburg Ave., which is known as Harvey’s Corner.  The parcels are located in the Medium-High Density Residential and Neighborhood Enhancement Overlay zoning districts.

The proposed amendment offered by the applicant, Wagner Enterprises, adds convenience stores as a conditional use in the Neighborhood Enhancement Overlay district for any property also in the Medium-High Density Residential district. This conditional use, according to attorney Julie Wagner Burkart, would address the township’s concerns “and ensure an added layer of protection for the township,” in comparison to adding the use as permitted by-right.

The attorney added that the developer’s proposal “is an opportunity to modernize the use definition and correct a need for relief, at my client’s significant expense in going through an extensive amendment process.”

The zoning text amendment includes the addition of a definition for “convenience store with fueling positions,” which is described as “a use where gasoline, lubricants, or automobile accessories are supplied and dispensed at retail, as well as household goods and groceries for convenience, ready-to-eat foods with a building of a gross floor area of less than 7,000 square feet. This use incorporates less than 16 fueling positions, which may include EV charging stations. This use may also include a drive-through pick-up window for additional convenience, for pre-ordered goods.”

The amendment also adds a list of specific requirements for the principal use of a convenience store with fueling. Among those requirements, it is noted that the use “shall not be designed for truck fueling and shall not provide amenities to promote overnight stay, such as showers, truck lounge, gym, laundry facilities or grooming stations.” Exterior trash and recycling receptacles will be required and must be routinely emptied to prevent the scattering of litter.

Further amendment review indicates that all fuel pumps and buildings containing the convenience store shall be set back at least 300 feet from any lot containing a public or private primary or secondary school, nursery school or day care facility, or playground, and it must be at least 100 feet from any residential lot line. Parking would also be permitted in the building’s front, provided it is screened.

Other amendment attributes include allowing audible electronic loudspeakers, automobile service order devices and similar instruments, but restricting them to no less than 50 feet from any residence. Stacking lanes must be designed to accommodate vehicular access that connects with an arterial road. Further, all drive-thru stacking lanes must be a minimum of 10 feet in width and separated from the parking lot’s interior driveways, and must provide at least 50 feet of on-site stacking per lane, preceding the order point.

The issue has a history in Bethlehem Township. In 2023, Wagner sought to build a Wawa convenience and gas store; a Fidelity bank; and two, eight-unit garden-style apartment buildings totaling 16 units at 4900 Freemansburg Ave.

The applicant asserted the township’s overlay district map was “defective” and represented “spot zoning.” This spurred a substantive validity challenge. At the time, the appeal sought a zoning hearing board recommendation of “site-specific relief” to extend the Mixed-Use Village Overlay district to the developer’s parcels, which are located in the Medium-High Density Residential and Neighborhood Enhancement Overlay districts.

Wagner Burkart said Monday night that board approval would “begin the process of considering the text amendment.” Specifically, it would move the document to the planning commission.

“There are some issues we need to work through with staff,” the attorney said, but added there “is some common ground” between the applicant and Bethlehem Township officials.

Commissioner John Gallagher did not support the amendment, saying it could “open up a Pandora’s box” for the township.

“I’m uncomfortable with a zoning text amendment,” Gallagher said. “…I don’t object to the use; I object to the method.”

Commissioner Michael Hudak adopted a different stance, indicating he wanted the township’s planning commission, along with the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, to review the document.

“I don’t have a problem moving it forward,” Hudak said.

No formal motion was made, but the board’s majority did not object to a planning commission review of the amendment.