Aug. 20, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission will take another look next week at a proposal for 320 apartments in Palmer Township, just east of Route 33.
The LVPC will review the plan at two meetings next week. From the LVPC website:
“The application proposes the construction of 320 apartment units across seven four-story apartment buildings, three twelve-car garages, a clubhouse with associated amenities, and two bridges crossing over Schoeneck Creek” from the first phase of the development.
The site is farmland now. A truck terminal had been proposed for the land earlier.
The commission’s draft review of the plan notes “constructing housing in close proximity to a highway is not advisable in the interest of the public health, safety and welfare” because of noise and air quality.
Just an aside, “close proximity” is my favorite proximity.
The LVPC did note that the development would help alleviate what the commission contends is a housing shortage:
“The proposed development does support efforts to alleviate the regional housing shortage. According to the Lehigh Valley Housing Dashboard, Palmer Township is experiencing a shortage of 269 housing units today, and an additional 2,688 units are needed by the year 2050 to keep up with the Township’s anticipated population growth. The proposal helps meet the Township’s housing demand while increasing attainable housing opportunities.”
While some residents complain about the lack of “affordable housing” many others don’t want to see more development on green space. If new housing is occupied by people who lived outside the Lehigh Valley, how does that help people already here?
Almost all new housing is at market rates, as should be expected. Developers aren’t going to charge below-market rates if they don’t have to, and if they were forced to, they might not build housing.
Like it or not, capital seeks the highest return.
“The site also contains several hazards to development,” the LVPC review says, noting the underlying karst (soluble rocks such as limestone) and sinkholes.
The commission will also discuss a new fieldhouse for Cedar Crest College, and data-center regulations for Salisbury and Lower Mount Bethel township.
The LVPC will consider the above plans at at a Comprehensive Planning Committee meeting at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 25, and a meeting of the full commission at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27.
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is in most cases an advisory body that reviews zoning changes and big developments in Lehigh and Northampton counties. Its reviews are passed to municipalities and builders to guide the development process.
See the LVPC website for more details.
There is a difference between shortage and affordable shortage. wood frame walk ups at $2000 a month?
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Stop the removal of our farmland. Where r the animal activists. We already lost a lot of the Greenland . In Palmer we see animals roaming in places you never thought u see. Bear, coyotes etc are losing there food areas. Now they come into backyards hunting food! Enough is enough!
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