The March 9 meeting of the Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission involved a conditional use plan for a barn conversion project at 1955 Willow Lane. The meeting also included a continuation of the one year zoning lookback.

Ronald Beitler was the applicant for the Willow Lane development. Jason Mulligan would be in charge of the brewery on the property and Greg Smith represented the distillery operations on the property. The property would include a barn and a spring that feeds the Little Lehigh Creek. The barn would be a mixed use with a microbrewery and distillery on the first floor and two apartments on the second floor. There would also be a deck built off the barn.

There was a discussion about the fact the portions of the property are within the 100-year flood plain. The property would have a riparian buffer along the creek and there would be an easement for a township trail. The planning commission asked to see more landscaping detail for the property.

Smith said all of the production would be done during the day so there would not be any smells or loud noises coming from the building late at night. He also said breweries are a well-established use in the Lehigh Valley with 14 established breweries and another four planning on opening in the coming year.

Commissioner Robert Rust questioned how the product would be contained if there was some sort of fire or explosion. Smith said there would not be enough liquid to reach the creek if there is a spill. He said there would also be drains and all the necessary cleaning supplies in the brewery room.

The property would be required to have two licenses, one for the distillery and one for the brewery. There would be a shared taproom between the distillery and brewery. The brewery and distillery licenses allow limited hours of operation 9 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday. Smith said he plans to have the taproom open until 10 p.m.

Beitler said the creek would be the focus of the property and be opened up to fishing and recreation. He also talked about adding outdoor music and other entertainment for some events. Beitler said because the property would not have a kitchen, he planned to have food trucks at the property.

Beitler explained they cannot add additional parking due to part of the property being in a flood plain. The property has around 40 engineered parking spaces. Beitler said the portion of the property which had the now demolished Willows Restaurant would have grass planted over it and be used as overflow parking.

It was questioned whether the brewery’s location might lead to more people driving there than a brewery in a downtown area where people could walk. Beitler said there would not be a whole lot of walking traffic right now, but there is the possibility of significant walking traffic when the township’s Project Greenway walking path opens.

There was talk about the driveway and safe access to the property for traffic. Beitler said the majority of sales would be on site with some hyper local restaurants and bars possibly selling their product. He added most transportation of product would be done through their personal vehicles and not use anything more than a small box truck.

Beitler talked about allowing a path through the riparian buffer so patrons could enjoy the river easier. The planning commission made the unanimous decision to table the discussion until the next meeting.

The planning commission also continued the one year lookback of the zoning ordinances. Township Planning Director Nathan Jones asked the other commissioners to look over the definition section of the zoning ordinances a final time. Jones wanted to look at the temporary use definition and wanted to be more specific about the amount of time a temporary use could last. A workshop meeting was to be held March 16.

Jones said there is a possibility of an additional planning commission meeting in a month due to an anticipated increase in development applications.

The planning commission meets the second Tuesday of every month and occasionally there is a workshop meeting on the third Tuesday of the month.

Workshops begin 6 p.m. while meetings begin 7 p.m. and currently all planning commission meetings will be held over Zoom with a video recording uploaded to the township’s YouTube channel after the meeting.