{"id":7800,"date":"2025-10-19T05:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/7800\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T05:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:39:13","slug":"bethlehem-zoners-heard-the-voices-of-the-people-deny-townhouse-developers-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/7800\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethlehem zoners \u2018heard the voices of the people,’ deny townhouse developer\u2019s appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 A developer who argued the city zoning officer provided an incorrect ruling regarding his plan for townhouses in West Bethlehem<\/a> will have to rethink its size.<\/p>\n

After a handful of meetings and continuances, the city Zoning Hearing Board in a unanimous vote Wednesday denied a favorable interpretation on inadequate lot size for property owner Ishtiaq Ali Saaem and Hanover Rauch LLC.<\/p>\n

The project as planned called for a 2 \u00bd-story, three-unit townhouse development on a 13,440-square-foot tract at 312 Hanover St., between Hanover and Rauch streets. <\/p>\n

The three-bedroom units would have been 2,200 square feet, with two garage parking spaces each. Four surface spaces also would be on site.<\/p>\n

Basically, the city requires a minimum tract size of 9,000 square feet for new townhomes no matter how many planned units. <\/p>\n

And with 6,000 square feet dedicated as a minimum for an existing two-family detached home on site, there\u2019s not enough room left legally for the townhomes as envisioned.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s decision is \u201ca big step toward preventing environmental degradation, reducing additional pollution, and avoiding the overcrowding we are already experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daiyana Rodriguez, a Bethlehem schoolteacher and neighbor of the project site<\/p>\n

James Preston, attorney for Saaem, didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.<\/p>\n

Saaem holds the right to appeal the board\u2019s decision with Northampton County Court. <\/p>\n

Preston wrote in a March 21 document that associated zoning relief should be granted, since city Zoning Officer David Taylor applied his ruling of inadequate lot area \u201cin a selective manner \u2014 which seems tailored to a desired result \u2014 rather than applying said section logically and consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project, which was in the sketch plan phase as of Wednesday, is one of a few others planned for the site in recent years. One case included a modification of the current home to offer more units.<\/p>\n

‘We need to preserve’<\/p>\n

Daiyana Rodriguez, a neighbor of the project and local schoolteacher, has spoken against the development alongside other West Bethlehemites and friends<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She called the board\u2019s decision \u201ca big step toward preventing environmental degradation, reducing additional pollution, and avoiding the overcrowding we are already experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It feels like a temporary win for homeowners in a city popular with developers, Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

City Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith, who was in attendance at Wednesday\u2019s meeting, said, \u201cI\u2019m glad that the board heard the voices of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to preserve our homes and our special neighborhoods,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 A developer who argued the city zoning officer provided an incorrect ruling regarding his plan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[6791,153,155,6792,154,3926,6793,6794,2927,6795,6796,6797,6798],"class_list":["post-7800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-312-hanover-st","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-housing-crisis","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehem-zoning-hearing-board","tag-daiyana-rodriguez","tag-development-in-bethlehem","tag-grace-crampsie-smith","tag-ishtiaq-ali-saaem","tag-james-preston","tag-townhomes-in-bethlehem","tag-west-bethlehem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7800","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=7800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}