The Girl Scouts’ Adventure Place at Mountain House project has been tabled by the Salisbury Township Planning Commission.

Planners, voting 5-0 with two members absent at the Oct. 20 meeting, approved the tabling of the Girl Scouts plan, for which several waivers were sought and approved.

In a separate vote, planners voted 4-0, with one abstention, to approve a lot consolidation plan for the project, construction of Mountain House Clubhouse in the Summit Lawn area along West Rock Road, west of the Summit Lawn exit of Interstate 78, atop South Mountain.

Planners also voted 4-0, with one abstention, to approve waivers for requiring the plan depict land contours of a certain distance from the project, to combine the preliminary and final plan and to approve a low-flow drainage retention pond.

In recommending the planners’ vote to table the plan, Tettemer said, “I’d like to see it come back one more time until we clean up some items before it’s presented to commissioners.”

The township planning commission is next scheduled to meet 7 p.m. Nov. 10 in the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave. The public may attend via the Zoom format. Preregistration is required.

The deadline for filing the Girl Scouts plan for the November planners’ meeting was Oct. 23. The plan might be considered at the 7 p.m. Dec. 8 planners’ meeting.

The township zoning hearing board had voted 5-0 at its March 9 meeting to approve the Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, Inc. appeal to build an approximate 7,000-square-foot building that will be heated and include bathrooms, showers, sinks and flush toilets; activity rooms for Girl Scouts; office space for Girl Scouts staff; a “trading post” for the purchase of Girl Scouts-related items and additional parking.

The March 9 vote happened during the third and final hearing of a total of approximately 12 hours of testimony, questions and answers and deliberations attended by an estimated 100 at each hearing held in the cafeteria of Salisbury Middle School.

Approximately 16 persons appeared to be registered for the Zoom meeting Oct. 20. One resident attended the meeting in the municipal building.

The consolidation plan of 2638 W. Rock Road and 2648 W. Rock Road, was required to meet the 5-acre minimum for the project.

Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer David J. Tettemer of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., recommended planners approve the consolidation plan.

Tettemer, reading from his Oct. 12 review letter, said of the preliminary land development plan, “Most of these are either stormwater issue items or waiver requests.”

Among Tettemer’s comments:

•The off-street paved parking area for 15 vehicles should be illuminated sunset to sunrise when in use. The existing gravel parking lot is not to be included in the lighting.

•A low-flow channel of less than 2 percent is in the retention basin design to support infiltration.

Salisbury Township Planning and Zoning Officer/Floodplain Administrator Kerry Rabold said a letter from Salisbury Township Fire Inspector Kyle Mertl asked for reassurances of a turnaround area for fire equipment, among other concerns.

Residents, via Zoom, voiced concerns about the parking lot lighting, the cutting of approximately 47 trees (which are to be replaced, but not by trees of equivalent size), the septic system and stormwater runoff.

“Will you be responsible for stormwater damage?” Jane Benning asked.

“The plan has been designed to direct discharge from the retention basin to the woods as much as possible,” Tettemer said, adding, “There’s a lot of area for water to infiltrate into the ground.

“We’ll look at where we can direct more water back onto the lot, maybe with a drainage swale,” Tettemer said.

The plan will be reviewed by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and the Lehigh County Conservation District.

Planner Richard Hassick asked for a review of the proposed plantings list, noting, “Some of it is going to be deer food.”

The Girl Scouts’ zoning hearing board appeal was for a special exception to construct the building as an expansion of a Special Exception Use and a favorable interpretation to permit an existing cabin to remain as a nonconforming structure. The property is in the Conservation-Residential Zoning District.

The Girl Scouts have been using the 15.21-acre site as a private recreation area since at least 1952. The cabin has been there since 1943.