BY SARIT LASCHINSKY

Special to The Press

During their June 7 meeting, North Whitehall supervisors held a public hearing for an ordinance amendment regarding Active Adult Residential Communities and the topic elicited several resident comments about one AARC in particular.

Township Solicitor Lisa Young explained the proposed ordinance would change the active adult residential community overlay, which provides a special set of requirements for AARCs.

These changes would remove the AR and ARI zoning districts from the overlay provisions, and only allow AARCs as an available use in the SR district.

Young said the township’s planning commission suggested the change due to roadways and available amenities, utilities and access roads, and such residential communities were best-suited in the suburban-residential setting only.

She noted the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission also gave the ordinance change a favorable review.

Resident Dan Nemeth suggested the ordinance change was prompted by a recently approved AARC development, referring to a residential community planned for the former Strawberry Acres orchard, which received conditional approval from the board May 27.

Nemeth asked what the purpose was of township ordinance rules which governed slope and limited space in developments due to slope.

Young said it was originally recommended municipalities include different conditions for steeper sloped areas to be more environmentally friendly, and account for additional runoff and other issues to better handle development on slopes greater than 10-15 percent.

Nemeth suggested the board amend the ordinance, as well as slope clarifications within a development plan to disallow the circumvention of these rules, such as by adding additional land to a design.

He said the Strawberry Acres’ steep slopes would lead to only a limited number of lots fitting onto the 25-acre parcel.

“The developer is allowed to attach land to the development to circumvent that very purpose of that slope law,” Nemeth said. “In essence in the same 25-acre development that has severe slope, you’re going to have 90 units.”

Young said she anticipated all ordinances would be reviewed and likely amended after the township’s comprehensive plan review is complete, including those pertaining to slope.

Township Manager Chris Garges said eliminating the AR and ARI zoning districts from the overlay worked toward Nemeth’s suggestions as these areas have most of the steep slopes within the township.

Planning commission Chairman Brian Horwith strongly recommended the board take favorable action on the ordinance and, in light of Nemeth and Young’s comments, noted the planning commission is undertaking a full review of the comprehensive plan, which is anticipated to take 12 months.

He said comments, such as Nemeth’s are what the commission is looking for in terms of community feedback and input.

He encouraged people to get engaged and provide information on the plan.

Resident Bob Allen asked whether the ordinance change would stop any further growth of the Strawberry Acres AARC, which is located in the AR Zoning District.

Garges said the land development plan, which went through the conditional use process, has vested rights under the previous ordinance, due to being filed earlier, but he and Young agreed the ordinance change would affect any new changes going forward.

The proposed ordinance amendment was approved in a 2-0 decision, as Supervisor Mark Hills was absent.

During courtesy of the floor, resident Heather Scorinko added several comments about Strawberry Acres, saying she wanted her comments to be placed on the record.

She also noted attendees were not permitted to speak at the May conditional use hearing.

She said the elimination of lower-level garages on the AARC’s quad units “is not a compromise,” and Clearview Road and Donna Drive will continue to see high-density housing.

At the May hearing, a waiver from the applicant was presented and accepted to reduce parking requirements from four spaces to two spaces per unit, and thereby reduce the AARC’s multilevel units by one floor.

“It seems everyone is ignoring a really big fact. Only one person age 55 and older has to reside in each unit,” Scorinko said, adding there were no limits on people age 20 or above, whom she characterized as being more likely to own a vehicle and thus affect the amount of traffic.

Scorinko said she feared for her safety driving on Clearview Road with her farm equipment, making note of several recent incidents where she was nearly forced off the road or almost caught up in accidents with other vehicles.

“This situation is only going to be aggravated by 356-plus cars on Clearview,” she said.