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Allen Township planning commission advances first phase of industrial complex

Five of six warehouses comprising JW Development Partners Northampton Business Center will make up the initial phase of development once Allen Township supervisors grant final approval.The township planning commission voted 4-0 Monday to recommend final plan approval for the first phase of development of the industrial complex planned for Howertown and Seemsville roads.Developer David Jaindl must still go before township supervisors two more times for consideration of final approval, and hopes to begin construction of the first phase by sometime in the fall.Construction should take about 12 months to complete, he said.A 186,000-square-foot warehouse on nearly 14 acres just west of Howertown Road has been pushed back to the second phase, with Jaindl telling the board details about how trucks will get in and out still need to be worked out.Those movements will have much to do with the layout of Century Commerce Center, which is being developed by Liberty Property Trust, , he said.“We fully anticipate it’s [going to] tie in,” he said. “It’s not figured out at this point, that’s why it’s in phase two.”The board made its recommendation contingent upon engineering review comments from the township and conditions of preliminary plan approval previously granted.Those include Jaindl providing two additional right-turn lanes at the intersection of Howertown Road and Nor-Bath Boulevard, road widening and stormwater improvements along Howertown and Seemsville roads, the construction of a connector road between the present Seemsville Road and the to-be constructed extension of the roadway, extension of a water line along Mud Lane, and installation of a traffic signal where the reconfigured Seemsville Road will intersect with Nor-Bath Boulevard.Jaindl’s commitment to improve the intersection of Howertown Road and Nor-Bath Boulevard is intended to alleviate traffic backups.“We have a lot of complaints coming in right now,” said planning commission member Gary Behler, who is also a township supervisor.AnnMarie Vigilante, a traffic consultant with Langan Engineering, said the work will begin next spring and will take no more than 1 to 2 months to complete, well before PennDOT will begin work in 2022 to replace the Howertown Road Bridge.“It’s not a lot of work,” she said.The township had wanted a third right-turn lane southbound on Howertown Road but could not obtain the required right-of-way from the Shell service station there due to the proximity of underground fuel storage tanks.Another condition of approval is Jaindl’s offer to install a mast arm where the road serving his complex connects to Howertown Road — to be called Cesanek Road after the previous landowner — in order to discourage trucks from making right-hand turns to head north on Howertown Road.The 11-ft. high mast arm, to be maintained by Jaindl, will provide necessary clearance for fire trucks, said Bruce Anderson of The Pidcock Company.Jaindl has agreed to extend a water line 4,200 feet east from Howertown Road to Buttonwood Drive to serve neighboring East Allen Gardens, a community that falls within both Allen and East Allen townships.The line will be installed during the first development phase, with the Bethlehem Water Authority agreeing to pay for a 12-inch in diameter line in order to provide better fire protection and enhanced water quality.The authority failed to convince both townships to share in the cost of the waterline extension to an existing well pump station 1,500 feet east of Buttonwood on Prospect Drive, with Jaindl agreeing to extend the line only as far as Buttonwood Drive.Kevin Duffy is a freelance writer for The Morning Call.
Source: Morningcall

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