A public hearing on the proposed Salisbury Township zoning ordinance may be held as soon as March 12 at the regular Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners' meeting, beginning 7 p.m.

The hearing is the final step in adoption of the new ordinance, which has been worked on for about three years by the Salisbury Township Planning Commission.

Once a hearing is held, commissioners have 90 days to approve the ordinance.

A vote on the ordinance could be 7 p.m. March 26 and no later than June 12, Salisbury Township Manager Randy Soriano said.

"It makes a lot more sense," Salisbury Township Director of Planning and Zoning Cynthia Sopka said of the new ordinance, adding, "Things have been clarified."

Township commissioners were given copies of the 254-page zoning ordinance to review after the Jan. 22 meeting.

Following a Dec. 9 [2014] public hearing on the new zoning ordinances, the Salisbury Township Planning Commission voted 5-0 with two planners absent, to recommend approval of the ordinance by township commissioners.

A major portion of the new zoning ordinance has to do with the Health Care Overlay District, which covers the Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest campus and vicinity.

A neighborhood advisory committee of residents living in the hospital area was established to meet with hospital officials concerning major projects at the campus.

The zoning ordinance is seen as the mechanism to enforce the township comprehensive plan, approved in 2010.

The township has also updated its Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.

The zoning ordinance carries out and enforces the SALDO.

A draft of the proposed zoning ordinance is on the township website: salisburytownshippa.org.

Go to the zoning hearing board page on the web- site.

Click on the PDF file toward the bottom of the zoning board page to view the zoning ordinance.