The Aug. 8 meeting of the Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission had two projects: the Al-Maqasid Learning Center and the Mill Creek Pointe Apartments.

The Al-Maqasid Learning Center was divided into two sections, the east campus and the west campus. The east campus, located at 7368, 7386 and 7394 Alburtis Road was previously approved and was looking for a special exception. The property was represented by Bud Newton and William Barlow from Newton Engineering along with the applicant John Rhodis.

Rhodis is reusing the existing single family homes on the property for a seminary and religious learning center. There are plans to turn a barn on the property into classrooms and a common area.

Newton said a good bit of the property is on the 100-year flood plain of the Swabia Creek. The plans would accommodate 400 students living on site. The parking on the site would be for staff.

Newton said the site would have many of the same functions a college campus would have and be as self-supporting as possible. He explained the project would offer K-12 education, as well as post high school and community education programs.

Newton talked about using temporary dormitory units on the property until the dormitory building could be constructed in the first phase of a six phase project. He estimated it would take about five years to raise the money and complete construction.

The plan calls for the parking on the property to be underground beneath the buildings. The planning commission had concerns due to the proximity to the flood plain. The planning commission commended the reuse of existing structures on the property.

There was a discussion about how to extend the use of temporary dormitories for more than one year. The planning commission questioned the impact on future projects.

Rhodis explained the goal of his learning center is to train the next generation to engage at every level of society.

The west campus of the Al-Maqasid Learning Center would be located at 7428 Industrial Park Way and 7505 Alburtis Road. The property would have five buildings and be over 38,000 square feet. There would be a cafeteria and gym, classrooms and offices, a day care and a playground. Newton talked about having two driveways with access onto Industrial Park Way. The driveways would be one way enter, one way exit.

The architecture would be similar to the east campus. The playground area would be completely enclosed.

There was a discussion about having a raised crosswalk across the intersection of Alburtis and Schoeneck roads. The planning commission had questions about clearance for delivery trucks on the property.

There was a discussion about the time frame for the project and how long the temporary dormitory units would be used for. The project was tabled until the next meeting.

Mill Creek Pointe Apartments would be located between Lower Macungie Road and Spring Creek Road. Planning Director Nathan Jones explained this is a sensitive site when it comes to traffic. This is due to the property being located across from Lower Macungie Middle School. The project consists of 30 six unit buildings with garages and individual entrances.

The property would be pet friendly and include a dog run on the site. The property would have good walkability including a frontage trail on Lower Macungie Road.

The lawyer representing this project was Kevin Fogerty who said all of the comments from the traffic study will be addressed. There was discussion about signal upgrades and left and right turn lanes at the driveway across from the middle school.

Fogerty talked about traffic calming measures, such as stop signs or speed humps, to limit people cutting through on internal roads.

Resident Mike Siegel had some concerns regarding traffic. He suggested having a closed loop road between Krocks Road and the project’s intersection with the middle school with the possibility of it continuing down to Lower Macungie Road’s intersection with Mill Creek Road.

Siegel also suggested having adaptive traffic signals along the same stretch of road to help alleviate traffic. In addition, Siegel had concerns about flooding on Spring Creek Road and suggested having lights along Spring Creek Road so motorists can see when the road gets flooded overnight.

Fogerty talked about the stormwater irrigation plan on the site. He said smaller storms would be held on site and with larger storms a higher percentage of water will be kept on the property than before the project.

There was a discussion about keeping the western side of the site a natural riparian buffer area. Siegel suggested having a fence along the western side of the property.

A motion to table the discussion until the next meeting passed.

The next Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission meeting will be Sept. 12. Usually the planning commission meets the second Tuesday of every month and occasionally there is a workshop meeting on the third Tuesday of the month.

Meetings begin 6 p.m. and currently all planning commission meetings will be held both in person and over Zoom with a video recording uploaded to the township’s YouTube channel after the fact.