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<\/p>\nBETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Residents\u2019 concerns over increased traffic and potential environmental impacts are building over a proposed 67-home development along Township Line Road.<\/p>\n
Several residents expressed opposition to the project during a sketch plan review by Bethlehem Planning Commission on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The plan calls for construction of 67 single-family detached dwellings between Santee Mill Road and Route 22.<\/p>\n
The 57-acre parcel, known as the Gold Tract, stretches over both the city and Bethlehem Township and is near Monocacy Creek.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a treasure,\u201d Scott Culpepper, of Santee Mill Road, told the commission, referring to the Monocacy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Residents near a proposed land development project in Bethlehem have concerns over its impact on Monocacy Creek and other nature areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cMonocacy Creek is recognized as a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection high quality, cold water, migratory fishery. It\u2019s also designated as a wild trout stream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Culpepper noted the nearby Archibald Johnson Conservation Area, through which Monocacy Creek runs, is not merely a \u201cparkland,\u201d as defined by Andrew Boll, of Hanover Engineering, who represents the applicant.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know how many species of birds live in the park area?\u201d Culpepper said. \u201cOne hundred ninety-three.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Should be carefully looked at’<\/p>\n
Dennis Brennan of Trent Court is a bird watcher who said he worries about the effect the development may have on them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe developer is from out of state. The owner doesn\u2019t know what this piece of Bethlehem and Bethlehem Township has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dennis Brennan, Bethlehem resident<\/p>\n
\u201cThe developer is from out of state,\u201d he said. \u201cThe owner doesn\u2019t know what this piece of Bethlehem and Bethlehem Township has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the lots already includes a sanitary sewer pump station.<\/p>\n
As for increased traffic concerns, Culpepper said his research indicates the average number of vehicles per household in the United States is 1.83. <\/p>\n
Assuming 67 dwellings will be built in the development, \u201c122 cars, a large percentage of them, will come out of that driveway every morning to go to work, onto narrow roads with speed bumps,\u201d Culpepper said.<\/p>\n
Commission Chairman Robert Melosky, referring to the narrowness of Santee Mill Road, added: \u201cAnd if a FedEx or UPS truck is coming, people have to pull over to allow others to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n
Traffic on Altonah, Santee Mill and Township Line roads was a significant concern raised by the board as well as the public.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really concerned about [having] the traffic study,\u201d Commissioner Joy Cohen said. <\/p>\n
Cohen also voiced concern about a nearby train crossing that is \u201cuncontrolled at a frightening intersection especially with more people coming with this development.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also said there’s a history of significant flooding in the project location over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe study of water in this location and the flooding should be carefully looked at,\u201d Cohen said.<\/p>\n
Nineteen dwellings are proposed over 20 lots within the city limits.<\/p>\n
Forty-eight lots\/dwellings are proposed within the township.<\/p>\n
A small portion of the city parcel is in the floodway. A significant part is in the Special Flood Hazard Area, Zone AE, with identified steep slopes and wetlands.<\/p>\n
No dwellings are proposed to be within Zone AE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Residents\u2019 concerns over increased traffic and potential environmental impacts are building over a proposed 67-home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1448,153,155,154,629,1449,1450,1451,1447,1452,1453],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-archibald-johnson-conservation-area","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehem-planning-commission","tag-bethlehem-proposed-development","tag-monacacy-creek","tag-proposed-67-house-bethlehem-development","tag-proposed-land-development-project-adjacent-to-monocacy-creek","tag-the-gold-tract","tag-township-line-road"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440","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=1440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}