By MICHAEL HIRSCH

Special to The Press

There was a discussion at the Sept. 4, South Whitehall Board of Commissioners meeting in response to a letter received on Aug. 20 from Jason Englehardt, principal/vice president of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services Inc. regarding Ridge Farms restaurant pads.

The letter was on behalf of Kay Walbert LLC, developer of the Ridge Farms project at the corner of Walbert Avenue and Cedar Crest Boulevard.

Discussion centered on the restaurant pads proposed along the Walbert Avenue frontage.

The currently approved plan proposes two 5,000-square-foot sit-down restaurants in the center of the Walbert Avenue frontage, along both the proposed Stone Barn Square (internal street) and Kern Drive (access from Walbert).

As the owner has been marketing the restaurant pads, it has become clear through discussions with both local and national restaurant chains that a full-service restaurant needs larger than a 5,000-square-foot space to address all the elements needed for a successful business.

P.J. Whelihan’s Restaurant has expressed strong interest in Ridge Farms, if an adequately sized facility could be constructed.

The discussion was about a conceptual plan showing an 8,000-square-foot restaurant on the east side of Kern Drive while eliminating the second restaurant pad to create additional open space along the frontage of the project.

The planning for this development has a Traditional Neighborhood Development Residential Cluster overlay area which has a restriction of 5,000 square feet limit on a sit-down restaurant.

This would require an amendment to permit the proposed plan.

Discussion revolved around a potential change to the development plan.

Commissioners were open to the idea but expressed concerns about the impact on residents’ choices and the potential need for further review.

They agreed staff should continue working with the developer to gather more information and assess the potential impacts.

The developer was urged to submit a more detailed plan for evaluation by the board.