South Whitehall residents who turned out on June 4 for an open house review of proposed zoning ordinance updates had a single message to convey to township staff.

They do not want any new commercial development along Walbert Avenue, particularly at the Shoemaker auto dealership and repair property but also in the proposed 94-acre Hills at Winchester project at Rutz farm.

As the meeting got underway, township Manager of Community Development Gerald Harbison announced the purpose of the gathering was to inform the public and to obtain comments on efforts to implement the comprehensive plan.

He offered comments on the proposed zoning alterations.

"We want to achieve the goals of the comprehensive plan through zoning, Harbison said. "The plan clearly says if we can provide a walkable community, we should do it. These are proposed changes to the existing base map."

People in the room started talking about the Shoemaker site.

"This is not about rezoning the Shoemaker property," Harbison said in response to their comments. "We have no application at this time to rezone Shoemaker, but the proposed overlay district would impact the Rutz tract."

In April, David Jaindl presented commissioners an informal sketch of a proposal to connect the Shoemaker site to his Rutz farm development. The plan included commercial space in the Shoemaker section.

Harbison introduced consultants Thomas Comitta and Jennifer Reitz, who prepared the comprehensive plan adopted in 2009.

They were re-hired about a year ago to work with township staff to bring the zoning ordinance into compliance with the comprehensive plan.

Reitz showed slides of a walkable, mixed-use community in Doylestown as an example of the type of neighborhood prescribed in the comprehensive plan.

The concept includes an assortment of housing types, a bank, some retail units, sidewalks and landscaping.

Houses are set close to the street with parking in the back. The buildings are close together with some open park areas and undeveloped space around the perimeter.

Residents in the audience disapproved of including commercial sites in a housing subdivision. One person said people are not going to walk to a corner store but will get in a car and drive to Wegmans.

Another individual stated he lives in a traditional neighborhood, and it's all houses with no commercial businesses.

In the new zoning proposal, the Rutz farm could have some commercial space.

Jaindl's plans for the property do not include commercial use.

"If something different is allowed there, I'd consider it," he said.

Zoning Officer Keith Zehner said almost the entire evening was devoted to two properties and their impact on Walbert Avenue traffic.

He said traffic is a planning issue, whereas zoning is concerned only with what is on a property.

Zehner said there is much to consider in the zoning ordinance, such as setbacks, housing density, parking, signs, frontage and lot sizes.

The concept of mixed-use neighborhoods, where residents can walk to shops, a bank, or a cafe was approved when the township adopted the comprehensive plan.

"As long as that is in the enacted document, we are obligated to enforce it," Zehner said.

If residents do not want that sort of development in the township, they need to take action to have it deleted from the comprehensive plan, Zehner added.