Meeting nights for the Salisbury Township Planning Commission and Zoning Hearing Board will be changed as of January 2022.

The zoning board will meet 7 p.m. the second Wednesday of the month. The board has been meeting 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month.

The planning commission will meet 7 p.m. the fourth Wednesday of the month. The commission has been meeting 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month.

Meetings for the zoning board and planning commission will continue to be held in the meeting room of the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.

Salisbury Township Planning and Zoning officer Kerry Rabold made the announcement at the Nov. 23 board of commissioners meeting.

The changes go into effect in January 2022.

The zoning board next meets 7 p.m. Dec. 7.

The planning commission next meets 7 p.m. Dec. 14.

Rabold said she checked with members of the zoning board, planning commission and solicitors for the panels and everyone is on board with the meetings’ days changes.

The changes, Rabold said, are in alignment with classified advertising deadlines for Salisbury Press.

The two-week gap between the meetings will give Rabold more time to prepare for the meetings, she said.

Rabold reviewed proposed changes to the township zoning ordinance.

“Most of the changes are to clean up and realign amendments that have changed,” Rabold told commissioners.

Rabold has been reviewing the township zoning ordinance and the Subdivision And Land Development Ordinance to ensure terminology and policy are in agreement. Rabold said she will continue to review the ordinances.

One of the proposed changes pertains to conversion of an existing building to increase the number of dwelling units. ”Right now, it’s not allowed,” Rabold said.

“We have a few office buildings that are vacant. The market has shifted. There’s not a lot of call for office units. But there’s a need for apartments,” Rabold said.

Another proposed change has to do with use of side yards, especially where a residence is a corner property. “We want to allow people to use their yards,” Rabold said.

“They cannot put a pool there yet, but we’re kind of working our way through that. We can address that,” Rabold said.

“You change one thing and it affects five other things,” Rabold said.

Also proposed is a change concerning the use of gravel for driveways and parking areas. “All gravel must be six feet from the property line,” Rabold said, noting she consulted with Salisbury Township Director of Public Works James Levernier.

“We want to keep gravel off the streets. We want to avoid as much macadam as possible,” Rabold said.

Also discussed was the parking of vehicles, including commercial vehicles and junked vehicles, on properties and along streets.

“There’s a lot of vagueness now. We tried to make it specific and enforceable,” Rabold said.

Concerning food trucks and company vehicles an employee might use, Rabold said, “Technically, it’s a home business.”

Salisbury Township board of commissioners President Deb Brinton said, “I’m only worried about it if it’s someone’s livelihood.”

“Food trucks are very popular now. And people want to park it and use the kitchen. You’re running it out of your house. It’s a commercial business,” Rabold said.

“We’ll have to see how many people are affected,” Commissioner Alok Patnaik said.

“I don’t know how many are impacted,” Brinton said, adding, “I think we’re going to get pushback.”

“If they have a problem, they can take it to the zoning hearing board. If it’s a hardship, they can argue before the zoning hearing board,” Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer David J. Tettemer said.

“They could also argue for an existing nonconforming use,” Rabold said.

In other business at the Nov. 23 meeting, commissioners voted 4-0 with one commissioner absent, on a motion by Commissioner James Seagreaves and seconded by Patnaik, to approve a three-year agreement with the Lehigh County Humane Society for animal-control services.

Salisbury Township Manager Cathy Bonaskiewich said the township contract with the humane society is increasing from $10,000 annually to $10,200 annually for each year of the three-year contract, which previously was a year-to-year contact.

At the Nov. 10 township meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 to:

•Recognize the years of service and accept the retirement of Robert Myles Jr.

•Approve the disposition of a public works dump truck

•Authorize payment No. 1 of $388,683.48 to Asphalt Maintenance Solutions, LLC, Emmaus, for the modified pavement overlay, seal coat and fog seal project and payment No. 1 of $169,141.02, also to Asphalt Maintenance Solutions, LLC, for the 2021 roadway crack seal, chip seal, mastic and fog seal project

Commissioners discussed ongoing township trash pickup and recycling complaints concerning Republic Services.

“I’m in the process of taking all the communications and how many days and figuring out the costs for the fines,” Salisbury Township Assistant Township Manager-Director, Community Development Sandy Nicolo said.

“Most of the complaints I’m seeing are for recycling,” Nicolo said.

The Salisbury Township board of commissioners is next scheduled to meet 7 p.m. Dec. 9 in the township municipal building.