City planners discussed a property vacation July 7; a result of the newly-renovated Perone Armory on Spring Street.

The 89-foot by 16-foot strip of land abuts the property of homeowners Charlene and George Mauers, who have been mowing the grass and clearing snow.

Planning Director Darlene Heller described it as “a remnant piece when the armory was developed. [It’s] not large enough to put a home on.”

The commission will recommend to council that the city should vacate the parcel, and Planning Commission solicitor Matthew Deschler pointed out this does not qualify as making a deed.

Next were two land development proposals for properties in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII. Engineer Andrew Boll of Hanover engineers described the two proposals. The first was at 1010 Harvard Avenue. A 650 thousand square foot warehouse with two driveways, two drive-up ramps, and 63 parking spaces is proposed for the site. Boll indicated approval from PennDOT was still pending. President Robert Melosky, joining via Zoom, asked about access from Route 412. The access from 422 will be a right turn in and a right turn out, due to the divided highway. Malozi joked that the city was “requesting signage because no one from Princeton [Avenue] wanted to interact with vehicles from Harvard [Avenue].”

Melosky added that the city is “running out of space in LVIP 7, glad to hear it.” The commission voted to accept the land development plan.

The second property was 2680 Commerce Center Boulevard . The proposal was for a 156 square foot building for manufacturing and warehouse space for plastic bottles. The site would include eight loading docks, two driveways, and an existing Railroad spur. Planning Director Heller commented this was “one of (the city’s) briefest comment letters.” She added that the letter mostly explained fees, and listed grants that could be applied for. She noted that Lanta had requested sidewalk connectivity for bus stop access. Malozi asked Boll if the rail access was an important feature of the site. Boll responded “ Rail access was one of the things that made the parcel attractive. “

The commission agreed to approve the land development plan.

Heller said that SALDO has been “on hold due to a shortage of staff.” The former Zoning Officer, Craig Pfeiffer, has now been hired as the Assistant Planning Director. The City is accepting applications for the Zoning Officer position.

The Planning Commission’s next meeting was moved to August 18, due to the Plaza in front of the Rotunda becoming a Platz during Musikfest.