By SARIT LASCHINSKY

Special to The Press

North Whitehall supervisors ruled on a variety of land development projects during their November meeting.

The first item of business was the Dalla Palu Land Development project, a former lot in the North Whitehall Industrial Park at the intersection of Independence and Jefferson drives.

Lew Rauch, representing the applicant, said Dalla Machine purchased the lot and was working out of the facility as a machine shop.

He was looking to expand the parking lot for employees.

He requested two waivers; one to review the plan as a preliminary/final plan, and the second to allow for modified scaling.

The board approved both waivers, and also voted to approve the parking lot plan, with Solicitor Lisa Young noting the approval included contingencies for the plan’s Act 167 approval regarding stormwater management and also calculations based on the impervious coverage footage.

Supervisors also heard a waiver request for the 2886 Strohl Road subdivision.

Engineer Mark Leuthe said the property was a single-family home split between North and South Whitehall and asked to split the recreation fee for the property.

Leuthe said a previous error was committed in accepting the $2,500 fee from both townships, but noted the home was located in, and paid taxes in, North Whitehall.

He said South Whitehall suggested he ask the board about splitting the recreation fee.

Board members approved Leuthe’s waiver for half the fee amount granting both townships $1,250.

Supervisors also approved a date rescheduling request for the KidsPeace plan development schedule.

Attorney Jackson Eaton said he had previously gave annual reviews of the status of the KidsPeace phased preliminary plan, and said he was asking for a “general shift forward” of the dates for filing final plans for buildings in various phases of the project.

Eaton said the date shifting request was due to KidsPeace going through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding and relief filing in 2014-15, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the board also heard a request from resident Amy Weeks regarding the possibility of considering ordinance provisions for “agri-tainment.”

Weeks said she and her husband were looking to start a wedding venue on their property in an area zoned agricultural-residential, but said there was no township zoning for ag-entertainment.

She asked the board to consider an ordinance to allow for this type of zoning.

Township Manager Christopher Garges said staff could look at similar ordinances from other townships, and the board agreed to look into the matter with Weeks and the township zoning officer.

Supervisors also approved a time extension request for the Ridings at Parkland Phase II until Jan. 31, 2021, to give the board sufficient time to review plans, as well as the release of a temporary $1,000 escrow for 4966 Oakland Road.

Later in the meeting, the board also voted to deny a waiver request from BASE Engineering regarding the conditional use application for the active-adult residential community planned for Strawberry Acres.

Additionally, the board approved the appointment of Schnecksville resident Jennifer Krumrine to the recreation board to fill the vacancy left by Frank Kedl.

Garges also said he received a request from a resident to install two “school bus stop ahead” signs on Sand Spring Road near Park View Road.

Gargas said he had discussed the matter with Parkland School District.

Supervisors approved the request to install and maintain the signage.