{"id":225644,"date":"2026-06-23T08:39:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T08:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/225644\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T08:39:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T08:39:51","slug":"bethlehem-mayor-sets-record-straight-on-potential-rezoning-of-church-site-for-housing-lehigh-valley-regional-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/225644\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethlehem mayor sets record straight on potential rezoning of church site for housing | Lehigh Valley Regional News"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, Pa.\u00a0\u2013 House after house on Center Street in Bethlehem boasts the same signs. They read, “Oppose high density development.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The signs are talking about the large mixed-income housing development being proposed on their neighbor’s property. That’s First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The church’s current proposal calls for more than 200 units, including twins, townhomes and apartments, to be built alongside the church’s current facilities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those against the project cite traffic concerns, the strain they see the population boost having on Bethlehem Area School District and what it could mean for the values of their homes. They also fear a potential rezone of the site would set a precedent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This project would gravely impact surrounding residential neighborhoods and, if approved, would set a precedent for future densification projects that would harm the very fabric of our Christmas City,” said Center Street resident Ryan Dunn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dunn spoke on behalf of Bethlehem for Unique Neighborhoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We initially and specifically oppose the high-density and mixed-use development proposed by First Presbyterian Church,” stressed Dunn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds made it known he does, too, based on the\u00a0city’s strict zoning rules.<\/a>\u00a0Currently, there are 22 different zones, and Reynolds repeatedly stressed the city takes zoning “seriously.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If that was the question, ‘Will you change, will you support a recommendation to change this to RG (Medium Density Residential District)?’ The answer me and Darlene (Heller, planning director) would say is, ‘We are not recommending that,'” stressed Reynolds. “That is as clear as I can be.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WFMZ-TV | Grace Griffaton<\/p>\n

The mayor clarified that neither he nor any one person on Bethlehem City Council can single-handedly make a zoning change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, he also made it clear that he sees Bethlehem as having a housing crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There is incredible demand to live in the city of Bethlehem, and that is a great thing,” Reynolds said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, he says that demand has left many 18- to 29-year-olds living in their parents’ homes because they can’t afford a mortgage or rent, citing data from the\u00a0Pew Research Center.<\/a>\u00a0According to it, the percentage of young adults living with their parents has risen to levels not seen since the Great Depression.<\/p>\n

Reynolds says the cost of housing impacts things like child care and employee retention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The cost of housing may affect how much you’re paying in child care, so you may reduce your hours, which leads to reduced employee hours, which leads to lack of services,” Reynolds said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Housing<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WFMZ-TV | Grace Griffaton<\/p>\n

The mayor presented numerous figures Tuesday, but one that really stuck out is just how much the cost of buying and renting has increased in Bethlehem. It follows a nationwide trend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The median house price in 2019 was $182,000. Last year, it hit $302,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First Presbyterian maintains that its proposal would help address the city’s housing crisis and offer the church long-term financial stability to continue offering its ministries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The church’s\u00a0“Campus Vision<\/a>” is presented on its website, along with its most recent outline<\/a> of the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa.\u00a0\u2013 House after house on Center Street in Bethlehem boasts the same signs. They read, “Oppose high…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[214,153,155,154,1391,38576,433,805,434],"class_list":["post-225644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-_homepage_top_stories","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehem-area","tag-insideyourtown","tag-lehigh-county","tag-lehighvalley","tag-northampton-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225644","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=225644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}