The Sept. 14 meeting of the Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission began with the introduction of the newest member Nihal Raval. There were two projects, Brookside Meadows Apartments and Spring Creek Settlement Subdivision, which were taken off the agenda at the applicant’s request.

The first item discussed was 3510 Macungie Road residential subdivision. Planning Director Nathan Jones said the plan has been modified based on the discussion at the last meeting. The property would have a single loop road and has been reduced to 32 units.

The units have been moved further away from the neighboring residences and there would be a walking path on the property. Jones said the density of the property requires zoning relief.

The project was represented by Reese Rosenthal and Blake France of F and R Macungie LLC. Rosenthal said a homeowners association would be responsible for stormwater management, snow plowing for roads, lawn care and trash collection.

Township Commissioner Maury Robert suggested the idea of a single family home open space community on the property. Rosenthal did not see an open space community as a viable option due to the size of the property.

Township resident Jim McConnell, who lives on an adjacent property, asked the planning commission to respect the ordinance and focus on the single family homes plan.

The planning commission decided to take no action and not make a recommendation to the zoning hearing board.

The other project discussed was the former Weis site redevelopment. The plan would involve demolishing the old Weis building and putting in a neighborhood hospital. The property would have a single story building with a two story medical office building behind it.

The Weis redevelopment was represented by Attorney Peter Lehr of Norris McLaughlin. The neighborhood hospital would include 10 inpatient hospital beds and 11 emergency exam rooms.

Lehr talked about decreasing the amount of impervious coverage on the property, trying to scale back some of the stormwater requirements and bring in fresh landscaping.

Lehr explained the hospital would focus on emergency and inpatient care for members of the local community. There was a discussion about the possibility of a third story added to the medical office building.

With the hospital operating 24 hours a day, the concern of noise pollution was discussed. The planning commission asked for a more detailed traffic study and talked about the possibility of a traffic signal.

There were some concerns voiced about traffic congestion during peak hours. A suggestion was made to put in an adaptive traffic signal system to help with traffic when the railroad tracks are in use.

Due to the large number of development project applications for the month of September, the planning commission has decided to replace the Sept. 21 workshop meeting with a traditional planning commission meeting.

The Sept. 21 meeting will cover three development projects. The meeting will be in person with an online option over Zoom available. The meeting will begin 7 p.m. and a video recording of the meetings will be put on the township’s YouTube channel after the fact.