— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The bid to add a fourth story to an apartment complex on Easton Avenue will get more scrutiny on March 19.
The Bethlehem Township Zoning Hearing Board will hold a “special” meeting to consider the plan by Orion Real Estate to add a fourth story to a three-story plan at 4406-4418 Easton Ave.
I put “special” in quotation marks because I’ve gone to a lot of meetings and so far, not one has been special. Not even a little special. This one could be a first.
Earlier, the developer said it needed the fourth story to compensate for the costs of dealing with stormwater. That request came after three stories and 96 apartments were approved by the township in 2023.
The property is a “hot corner” so to speak in Bethlehem Township, across from the blue grillhouse and near Skateaway. It has frontage on Farmersville Road, and anybody heading south on Farmersville from there faces what has been deemed “the worst intersection in Bethlehem Township” where Farmersville Road runs into Freemansburg Avenue.
There is a plan to align that intersection and add a traffic light, but people have been hearing that for a long time. As of now, it’s in the hands of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Until and unless something happens, it will be a place where southbound drivers making a left continue to seek divine intervention to pull out safely, but I’m digressing.
Farmersville Elementary School, Route 33, maybe a Wawa someday, and more already line the road and more development is coming, including the proposed 200-plus apartments on the other side of Route 33.
Development is going to happen. The only question is exactly what form will it take, but Easton Avenue and Freemansburg Avenue are going to get busier, particularly with the 866,350-square-foot monument to distribution (a warehouse) on Freemansburg Avenue at the township’s western border.
The Bethlehem Township Zoning Hearing Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19 at the municipal building, 4225 Easton Ave.
Here’s a link to the meeting notice on the township website, and a cut-and-paste of the announcement:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2025 AT 6:30 PM AT THE TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 4225 EASTON AVENUE, THE BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP ZONING HEARING BOARD WILL HOLD PUBLIC HEARINGS, AMONG OTHER ISSUES, CONCERNING THE FOLLOWING:
Appeal #06-2025 of Orion Real Estate Development, LLC seeks relief concerning real estate located at 4406-4418 Easton Avenue, Bethlehem Township, Northampton County. The relief requested is a dimensional variance from Zoning Ordinance Section 275-230.E, which limits maximum building height to three stories or 36 feet, whichever is less. The applicant requests a maximum building height of four stories, thereby seeking a variance of one story. The applicant also requests a maximum building height of 45 feet, thereby seeking a variance of 9 feet. The real estate is located in the General Commercial (GC) District and the Commercial Enhancement Overlay District, maintains Northampton County Tax Parcel Identification Number M7 19 5 0205 and M7 19 11 0205, and is described in Northampton County Deed Book Volume 2024-1, Page 199202.
All interested parties are invited to attend and be heard. Supporting documents are available for review at the Bethlehem Township Municipal Building located at 4225 Easton Ave, Bethlehem, PA 18020 by appointment with Zoning Officer Aaron Stasiw (astasiw@bethlehemtwp.com / 610-814-6464) or Assistant Zoning Officer Erika Soto (esoto@bethlehemtwp.com / 610-814-6432
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 