{"id":141907,"date":"2026-03-18T18:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/141907\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T18:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:10:10","slug":"sheetz-gets-liquor-license-coldwell-banker-site-to-become-apartment-building-saucon-source","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/141907\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheetz Gets Liquor License, Coldwell Banker Site to Become Apartment Building \u2013 Saucon Source"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hellertown Borough Council approved a request by Sheetz to transfer a liquor license to its new store on Main Street, green-lit the conditional development of a five-unit apartment building at 186 Main Street and began a study of borough parking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sheetz Gets Its Liquor License <\/p>\n

Council unanimously approved a court-ordered consent agreement with Sheetz, ending a dispute over the company\u2019s bid to transfer a liquor license from a former business in Lower Saucon Township to its Hellertown location<\/a>, which is expected to open this spring.\u200b Sheetz has recently opened several new stores in the area that sell beer, including one in South Bethlehem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Borough solicitor Michael Corriere said Sheetz applied for the transfer in November. Council denied it over concerns that alcohol sales could open the door to outdoor entertainment such as block parties. Sheetz then appealed the denial to the state Liquor Control Board.\u200b<\/p>\n

\"HellertownA Sheetz that is expected to open in April will be able to sell beer to customers, after Hellertown Borough Council approved a liquor license transfer for the store this week. The store is across from the I-78 east on and off-ramps. (FILE PHOTO)<\/p>\n

After negotiations, Sheetz agreed to a permanent prohibition on any outdoor events at the Hellertown location. Corriere was blunt with council, noting if this went to full litigation, the borough would likely lose and wouldn\u2019t get this concession at all.\u200b<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Gail Nolf said she wasn\u2019t thrilled with the license, but acknowledged the deal was the best the borough was going to get, and casting what she called a \u201creluctant\u201d vote in favor of the transfer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coldwell Banker Site to Become 5-Unit Apartment Building<\/p>\n

Council conditionally approved a plan to tear down the Coldwell Banker building at 186 Main Street and replace it with a five-unit apartment building, reusing the existing parking lot and driveway access.\u200b<\/p>\n

The developer needs to satisfy conditions specified in the borough engineer\u2019s review letter, secure a PennDOT highway occupancy permit, get a DEP sewage planning module waiver, install emergency services signage on the southwest corner of the property and keep the existing on-street parking space on Main Street intact.\u200b<\/p>\n

Borough\u2019s First Parking Study Since 2008 is Coming\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been nearly two decades since Hellertown took a hard look at its parking situation, and council member Larry O\u2019Donnell wants that to change.\u200b<\/p>\n

The push to review the current state of parking came out of a recent community and chamber roundtable, where parking issues were a top concern for business owners and residents alike. O\u2019Donnell noted that Main Street\u2019s business mix has shifted significantly since a 2008 study by Barry Isett & Associates (BIA).<\/p>\n

Add in walkability initiatives<\/a>, new crosswalk layouts and a brutal winter that buried already limited spots under snow piles, and O\u2019Donnell said there was a strong case for a new assessment.<\/p>\n

Council unanimously approved a motion to get a cost estimate from BIA for the study, which will include Main and Front streets.\u200b<\/p>\n

Plastic Bag Ban?<\/p>\n

Hellertown resident Tim Murphy returned to the podium\u2013two years after his first pitch\u2013to again ask council to consider a single-use plastic bag ban ordinance. He pointed to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Lower Merion Township and Narberth as municipalities that have already gone this route and offered to send council a PowerPoint breaking down the comparisons.\u200b<\/p>\n

Murphy acknowledged that not everyone\u2019s on board with the idea. He said a local business owner told him two years ago the idea was \u201ccrazy,\u201d arguing that \u201c75 percent of your car is plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s counter was that bags are \u201clow-hanging fruit,\u201d and that microplastics associated with the pollution of single-use plastics are showing up in drinking water. O\u2019Donnell suggested looping in Terri Fadem, who previously orchestrated a similar effort through an environmental advisory council.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council asked Murphy to send over his materials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next Hellertown Borough Council Meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 6 at 7 p.m. at Borough Hall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hellertown Borough Council approved a request by Sheetz to transfer a liquor license to its new store on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[6152,530,153,155,154,10494,204,51045,4690,10495,5541,7970,13287,29949],"class_list":["post-141907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-apartment-building","tag-ban","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-council","tag-hellertown","tag-liquor-license","tag-main-street","tag-meeting","tag-parking","tag-plastic-bags","tag-sheetz","tag-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}