The Historical and Architectural Review Board voted 4 to 1 Jan. 3 to deny the Bethlehem Parking Authority’s two proposals to replace the existing parking garage with a taller one at the Jan. 3 regular meeting.

With the Jan. 3 closing of the Walnut Street Parking Garage at 33 W. Walnut St., the city is looking to demolish the existing building to prepare the site for its replacement. They had been granted a COA in September to raze the aging, five-tier, 700- space parking facility built in 1976.

Having their original proposal tabled at the December meeting, Bethlehem Parking Authority Executive Director Steve Fernstrom returned with it and a second version of the new structure in a failed attempt to address concerns expressed in previous hearings.

Assisting Fernstrom were President Jim Zullo, Kevin Carrigan and Michael App from THA Consulting, and BPA solicitor Leo V. Devito.

Bethlehem Community & Economic Director Laura Collins came forward at times to answer questions and defend the project.

“We are in a position to address the three areas of feedback that we received from the board during the last meeting,” announced Fernstrom as he listed scaling to meet HARB guidelines, a professionally created sightline analysis of the Market Street right of way, and architectural strategies to break up the scale and massing of the south facing wall.

The BPA’s “right-size garage” reduces capacity to 591 parking spaces at the east end of the site to allow for potential residential over retail units to be built on the western end of the property.

The second submission maintains all of the components of the original proposal except for eliminating 55 spaces from the upper deck, which lowers the height of the east wall and south façade of the overall garage.

A BPA slide pictured the new garage situated on the eastern portion of the site, with a large white box on the western end of the site to represent land available for future development.

The new enclosed parking deck would feature condominium parking, public parking and retail space. The façade of the new building would include a combination of brick, precast concrete, ornamental metal screen, storefronts and a curtain wall.

While the second proposal would not be as tall as the original design, it was still considered too high, especially by its neighbors to the south, along W. Market Street.

As at previous HARB meetings, the BPA faced a wall of criticism from a large number of public speakers.

High Street resident Alan Lowcher handed over a petition signed by 75 of his Bethlehem neighbors requesting HARB “disapprove” the new parking garage submission.

Kelly Ronalds presented the commissioners with another petition opposing the proposed project signed by 34 area business owners not happy with the diminished number of parking spaces.

Historic Hotel Bethlehem managing partner Bruce Haines, assisted by Ronalds, presented a slideshow challenging the city’s parking deck proposals. Haines expressed the need for enough parking to handle Bethlehem’s music festivals, as well as anticipated parking needed for tourists visiting the area when it is designated a World Heritage Site.

Haines compared the Walnut Street facility to the authority’s recently-constructed New Street and Polk Street parking garages that were designed “to accommodate event parking and future growth.” He asked, “why Bethlehem’s ‘go-to’ garage becomes its smallest?”

Dan and Shelley Nigito from W. Market Street returned to criticize the nearly 71-foot height of parts of the wall they would be viewing from their backyard where the existing wall is 32 feet high. They argued the second design was still too high.

Others expressing major concerns included Councilman Bryan Callahan (D), Sun Inn Preservation Association Board President Randi Mautz, Dana Grubb, Bill and Michelle Shafer, Scott Hough, Brian Carnahan, attorney Chris Spadoni, Jim Follweiler and Marten Romeril.

Bethlehem resident Megan Lysowski supported the second design as she voiced a preference for less dependence on automobiles.

Before calling for a vote, Chairwoman Connie Postupack read a letter from HARB member Nik Nikolov, who was unable to attend. While unable to vote on the proposals, Nikolov related he found the proposed parking garage, “ … does not fit harmoniously within the massing, scale, and pattern of the development to its immediate south, in the so-called Historic Bethlehem District.”

Four of the commissioners cited neither proposal met historic district standards when they denied a COA. They agreed that the lack of clarity as to what would become of the undeveloped part of the site was of concern. Attorney Matt Deschler provided the board with legal advice.

Bethlehem’s Chief Building Inspector Mike Simonson was the dissenting vote each time.

BPA’s next option is to ask city council to ignore HARB’s recommendations and approve one of the two rejected proposals. Otherwise, it would be back to the drawing board to design a structure that utilizes the entire site and goes no higher than the existing building‘s profile.

The Historical and Architectural Review Board regularly meets the first Wednesday of every month to review all exterior changes proposed to buildings in the Bethlehem Historic District north of the Lehigh River. When a proposed project receives a certificate of appropriateness from the board, applicants must wait for city council to vote on it before proceeding. Meetings can be viewed on YouTube.