Macungie revising zoning ordinances

October 08, 2013|By Margie Peterson, Special to The Morning Call

Macungie is revising its borough zoning ordinance, which regulates everything from strip clubs to razing historic buildings to housing developments and home-based businesses.

On Monday night, Macungie Borough Council heard from several people in the crowd of about 30 residents who were concerned about possible changes in the ordinance, which is being revamped for the first time in a decade.

"The main reason why we have zoning is so we can avoid conflicts between uses," said Charlie Schmehl of Urban Research and Development Corp. of Bethlehem, which is aiding the borough in the revisions. "So we don't have somebody building an asphalt plant up against somebody else's neighborhood, for instance."

Schmehl said the revised ordinance would not change any current legal use of land in the borough.

"Regardless of what this map says and what the book says, if somebody has an existing business that's legal today, they can continue to operate," Schmehl said. "Things are grandfathered in."

Some of the potential changes include:

•Establishing a new conservation and recreation district that applies to Macungie Memorial Park, most of Kalmbach Park and other parks. The parks had mainly been under residential districts.

•The current manufacturing district would be called "light industrial Commercial," which would allow fewer heavy industrial uses, such as trash transfer stations, but permit a broader range of businesses, such as car washes and trade schools.

•There would be a process for demolishing buildings constructed before 1941. Such buildings could still be torn down but they would have be reviewed by the borough to avoid demolishing historic buildings without any review.

•The R-10 low-density residential district would allow that in some circumstances a developer could build town homes or twin homes in a cluster to leave more of the land open space.

•By federal law, Macungie has to allow some place in the borough were an adult bookstore or strip club is allowed, due to court rulings. The new ordinance would allow for such a use deep in the Tyler Pipe property.

The revisions streamline the borough process for routine changes to homes.

Michael McCready of the Kalmbach Charitable Trust asked the borough not to change the park's zoning from residential to conservation recreation. McCready said the trustees have no plans to sell the property but they are concerned that a more restrictive zoning, such as conservation, would cause the property to lose some of its value.

Council was hoping to adopt the revisions by Dec. 31 to qualify for a Lehigh County grant to pay for the revision process. But council President Chris Becker said he doesn't want the revisions to be pushed through without enough time to consider changes.

The board can make more revisions in 2014, council members said.

Margie Peterson is a freelance writer.

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