By SARIT LASCHINSKY

Special to The Press

Approximately 30 people attended a brief virtual hearing March 25 before the North Whitehall supervisors regarding a conditional use application for a proposed active adult residential community at the site of the former Strawberry Acres orchard.

The meeting was a continuance from a March 11 hearing, which was in turn was a continuance from the original Feb. 18 date, which was canceled due to inclement weather.

At the beginning of the March 25 hearing, township Solicitor Lisa Young said the township had received an extension of time from the project’s applicant, 5077 Overlook Road LLC, which she read into the record.

Young said the requested extension would be valid to and including, June 30, and supervisors would use the time to review materials, as well as any additions or modifications that 5077 Overlook Road LLC would want to pursue during that period.

She said the new hearing would be 7 p.m. May 27, which Attorney Peter Lehr, representing the applicant, said was amenable.

Supervisors voiced their availability for the new meeting, and Young declared the meeting continued until May 27 to discuss the proposed active adult residential community.

Before the meeting was closed, township Manager Christopher Garges said the new meeting’s login information would be posted online the Friday before the meeting, and additional information would also be posted to the township’s website and Facebook page.

According to documents received by the township, the applicant’s plan calls for an 89-unit for people age 55 and older, to be constructed at 5077 and 5120 Overlook Road.

The proposed active adult residential community will include 35 single-unit residences, 26 double-unit residences and 28 four-unit residences, as well as a caretaker home and community center, and will be served by a wastewater treatment plant to be constructed on the property.

The wastewater plant, which is designed to process and treat more than 24,000 gallons of wastewater per day and discharge into Fells Creek, received conditional use approval from supervisors at their January 2020 meeting, a decision which was opposed by numerous area residents.