Whitehall Township Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. was hoping a joint municipal application that includes Coplay, Catasauqua and Whitehall would be approved.

The three municipalities recently applied to the state to receive City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ) designation. Designed mainly for cities, the pilot program is limited to smaller communities.

Local officials learned Monday the application has been denied.

According to Hozza, who expressed appreciation recently for Bethlehem being awarded CRIZ designation by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the city's award would have nothing to do with the application filed by the two boroughs and township

Hozza expected four municipalities, including a TRIAD application, to seek the CRIZ designation. Tamaqua also contended for the designation.

The designation would have set aside 130 acres of prime real estate which has been difficult to develop, attracting little or no interest from private developers.

Coplay, Catasauqua and Whitehall each would have reviewed particular projects in their confines and approve them, after which funding would have been made available through the Whitehall Township Industrial and Commercial Development Authority, headed by Howard Lieberman, who has advocated for CRIZ designation.

In Whitehall Township, the long idled Lehigh Valley Dairy property, and MacArthur Road South, also submitted applications for CRIZ designation.

Also in the township, Thomas Iron Works, Hokendauqua, near Darktown; Dent Manufacturing on Fullerton Avenue, once prosperous industrial companies; and two parcels north of the projected American Parkway Bridge, closer to the City of Allentown border, were also considered.

In Catasauqua, the FL Smidth industrial site facing Front Street was part of the package submitted by the three municipalities. The land has been designated as a brownfield. The Borough of Catasauqua bought the property for future use as a municipal complex, including administrative offices, fire station and police headquarters. The borough acquisition is not expected to have a negative impact on the joint application.

The Borough of Coplay, had earlier considered the possibility of acquiring the former General Supply Company property, near the Lehigh River, which is part of the overall project. Coplay went as far as investing money in the property.