A potential technical roadblock has been cleared for a major warehouse development project in Northampton Area School District.

At question was an easement for a detention pond and a right of way for Seemsville Road on school district land as part of the Northampton business center land development plan, known as the Jaindl-Watson Development, or JW Development.

The decision by the commonwealth could also put NASD on the road to constructing a new educational facility on the property, possibly in “five to 10 years,” according to NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik, who presented an expanded vision of the district’s facilities needs at the Aug. 27 board of education meeting. The Seemsville property is seen as playing a key role.

A deed restriction for the Seemsville tract states the land “shall be used for education and related purposes of the school district.”

The easement and right of way “does not violate the educational use condition,” opined Shawn D. Smith, deputy chief counsel with the Governor’s Office of the General Counsel.

The ruling backs the opinion of NASD Solicitor C. Steven Miller, whose position is that “improving the proponents is totally consistent with the educational use.”

“We were just reassured by the state again that it’s not a violation of the deed restriction,” Miller said at the Aug. 27 meeting.

Kovalchik announced receipt of the chief counsel’s letter at the Aug. 27 board of education meeting.

“We weren’t quite sure we could do anything with the parcel,” Kovalchik said during the meeting. “Their (general counsel) opinion is that the NASD intended use of the property does not violate use of the 1995 deed.”

The general counsel letter to NASD states, “The proposed use would not trigger a reversion of the title back to the commonwealth, nor would the commonwealth pursue such a reversion.”

The ruling by the commonwealth came months after a citizens group questioned whether an easement for the warehouse project violated the deed restriction for a portion of the school district property at Route 329 and Seemsville Road.

Earlier this year, Citizens for Accountability & Responsible Development (CARD) East Allen Township posted a copy of a letter on social media that the organization stated was sent to the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) and local, state and federal officials concerning the right of way and easement for district land.

CARD sent the letter Feb. 12 to the DGS, citing the Seemsville property deed restriction. The NASD board voted 8-1 at its Feb. 26 meeting to authorize a letter to the DGS.

Prior to the CARD letter, NASD had planned to get an opinion from the DGS to make sure the use is consistent, according to Miller.

The school district has considered the tract as a site for a new administration building, maintenance building or elementary school - or all three facilities.

Susan Lindenmoyer, of Allen Township, questioned the use of the property for educational facilities, citing the estimated daily tractor-trailer traffic. It’s projected the warehouses will generate from 1,600 to 3,000 trucks per day.

“Please change your minds and consider the safety of your students,” Lindenmoyer said during the public comment portion of the Aug. 27 meeting.

“There will be further discussions. We’ll take your comments into consideration,” NASD Board of Education President David Gogel said.

School directors voted 7-2 at the March 12 board meeting to authorize Gogel to sign a term sheet between NASD and JW Development Partners (Jaindl-Watson) for “a transfer by easement and/or conveyance” of 13.09 acres of the district’s 92.32-acre Seemsville tract.

Miller explained the vote was akin to approving a letter of intent, indicating the school board is signing off on the process by which the project must be reviewed by various local and state government entities, including Allen Township Board of Supervisors, East Allen Board of Supervisors and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Seemsville Road is to be relocated 650 feet east of its present location.

Jaindl-Watson seeks a right of way easement for the relocated Seemsville Road, which would curve to a new terminus and a new traffic light at Route 329.

A water retention pond, which would not be maintained by NASD, would be built on a portion of the land roughly between the new road and where Seemsville Road is now located.

NASD officials reason improvements, such as those proposed for the Seemsville property by JW Development, would need to be undertaken should a school facility be built there.

“We figured it’s going to save us $3 million because of bringing the water line across the property,” Gogel said of the JW Development improvements to the tract.

The water line would be 140 feet from the Seemsville tract after the improvements. The water line is now 2,000 to 3,000 feet away, Gogel said. Improvements would also be made to sewage services.

JW Development would place six buildings of 2.4 million square feet for warehouses or manufacturing on 294 acres, zoned for industrial-commercial, in Allen Township.

The warehouses could generate $2 million in increased property tax revenue for NASD, $3.5 million in improvements to the Seemsville tract and 609 jobs, of which 576 would be full time.

NASD purchased the 92.32-acre tract at Route 329 and Seemsville Road for $227,500 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1995 as a site for a school.

The deed restriction was made June 17, 1995, when the Seemsville tract was conveyed by the commonwealth to GSA to NASD.

“The district has been trying to construct an educational facility on that property for 30 years, and it hasn’t happened,” Kovalchik said.

“The plan eventually is to consider an elementary school, administration building and maintenance building [for the Seemsville property],“ Kovalchik said, emphasizing, “This is not something that’s going to happen in the next year.”

Kovalchik said he’s projecting these projects may happen in the next “five to 10 to 20 years.”

The NASD Administration Building, 2014 Laubach Ave., where school board meetings are held, dates to 1928.

Kovakchik has been keeping his eye on student population. Northampton Area High School had 1,600 students five years ago. This fall, there are 1,900 NAHS students.

Col. Siegfried Elementary School has 850 students.

The Franklin building and Washington building, which houses the district’s technology services, date back to 1908.

“Needless to say, there’s some concern with those buildings,” Kovalchik said. “And then it becomes much more to renovate.”

That’s what the district found out concerning Lehigh Elementary School, and the board chose to build new rather than renovate.

“The growth is here,” Kovalchik said of NASD, where warehouse and other projects have been built or are in various stages of review.

“At 98 square miles, we’re (NASD) one of the largest districts in the state. Plus, we have an excellent education system in place. We’ve managed to move forward,” Kovalchik said. “I think you can see where things are going to go.”