The Dec. 10 meeting of the Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission involved projects from Jaindl Properties and 3P Holdings LLC.

The meeting was also Vice Chair Maury Robert’s final meeting with the planning commission. After serving on the planning commission for 32 years, Robert will join the Lower Macungie Board of Commissioners, which he was elected to, in January, 2020.

The Jaindl Properties project was represented by Atty. Joseph Zator and the engineer was Bud Newton of Newton Engineering. The project, Jaindl Commercial Park North, is a 7,300 square foot four story multi-use office building. The first floor of the building will be split between a restaurant and office space.

The property will have two access points – one on Hamilton Boulevard and the other from the driveway to the new Air Products property. There were waivers for the project involving stormwater management and the recreation area on the property.

Although the project was held to the prior zoning ordinance, the planning commission said it is what they are looking for, especially along Hamilton Boulevard. There was a discussion about the property having outdoor seating and the types of crosswalks that would be on the property.

Commissioner Robert Rust asked about what kind of trees and landscaping would be used on the property. The planning commission wanted to talk more about buffer yards on the property.

There were questions about what kind of pedestrian crossings would be used on the property. Zator said Air Products owns the road bordering the property, but Jaindl owns the surrounding land. A motion made to approve the conditional use for the restaurant and offices was approved unanimously.

The 3P Holdings LLC project was represented by Atty. Erich Schock, of Fitzpatrick Lentz and Bubba. Newton was also the engineer on the 3P Holdings project.

3P Holdings wants to expand the use of their property on Alburtis Road into that of a seminary. Schock talked about needing space for 400 students to live and learn, comparing it to a religious university.

There was discussion about preserving the farmhouse and barn on the property. Schock also said the wooded area on the property would remain undisturbed. Secretary Tim Pickle said it was a nice project, but there were some parking concerns. A motion was made to approve the special exception application and it passed unanimously.

The planning commission meets the second Tuesday of every month and occasionally there is a workshop meeting on the third Tuesday of the month. The planning commissioners meetings take place 7 p.m. in the township municipal building.