{"id":87792,"date":"2026-01-15T19:34:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/87792\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T19:34:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:34:22","slug":"are-new-developments-ruining-eastons-historic-roots-residents-voice-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/87792\/","title":{"rendered":"Are new developments ruining Easton\u2019s historic roots? Residents voice concerns."},"content":{"rendered":"

As Easton continues to see new large-scale developments with modern designs, residents have raised concerns about whether those projects fit into the historic city.<\/p>\n

Recent projects such as The Marquis<\/a>, The Watermark<\/a> and The Confluence<\/a>, which is currently under construction, have drawn attention for their multi-story scale and contemporary style in a city with historic architecture and colonial roots.<\/p>\n

During an Easton Planning Commission meeting in September<\/a>, discussions of a condo building on South Third Street allowed residents to advocate for historic preservation in the city. Many noted this complex was too large in scale compared to other downtown structures. <\/p>\n

Some called it box-like and similar to New York City in an unflattering way.<\/p>\n

Those concerns emerged again at Easton City Council\u2019s Wednesday night meeting<\/a>, as residents raised concerns about historic preservation, zoning enforcement and the impact of new development on longtime residents.<\/p>\n

These concerns come to light as Easton prepares to update its comprehensive plan<\/a>. Last adopted in 2017, the plan is a comprehensive document that guides Easton\u2019s planning and the city\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Resident and local attorney Cody Harding told council that Easton\u2019s light, air, water and historic character should be treated as shared public resources. He argued that those resources are often compromised for large developments.<\/p>\n

Harding also emphasized that zoning and planning ordinances exist to guide growth, and frequent requests for multiple variances weaken the city\u2019s ability to reject similar projects in the future. <\/p>\n

\u201cPrivate individuals who are trying to restore their property or open a business should be treated the same as large developers,\u201d Harding said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s always been the case, and I would hope that that would change.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also suggested amending specific zoning requirements sooner rather than waiting for the completion of a new comprehensive plan. <\/p>\n

Mayor Sal Panto Jr. explained that current ordinances in the Downtown Business District allow buildings up to seven stories, but said those limits will be revisited as part of the new comprehensive plan. <\/p>\n

He said he plans to recommend height limits of three stories for structures west of Fifth Street and potentially five stories downtown under the updated plan.<\/p>\n

Another resident, Ryan Gilbride, who owns and maintains multiple historic properties on South Sixth Street, said strict historic standards require significant investment and specialized materials. <\/p>\n

He said new projects should be required to respect Easton\u2019s unique and finite downtown fabric in the same way small property owners are expected to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have these developers coming in, and they want to build a building where you can look online and find five other buildings designed the same way in Philadelphia or Allentown,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll spend good money to maintain everything I own. I have to hold myself to that standard, because that\u2019s what\u2019s asked of me, and also it\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Easton continues to see new large-scale developments with modern designs, residents have raised concerns about whether those…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-87792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87792","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=87792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}