On Oct. 20, the South Bethlehem/Mt. Airy Historic Conservation Commission (HCC for short) voted 5-2 to approve Dennis Benner's proposal for a nine-story building at Fourth and Vine streets. The commission was reportedly under duress, fearing that if it rejected the proposal and city council approved it, the HCC would have no input on the design, which would seem odd. A truer sense of public sentiment came from the 21-member Board of Directors of the South Bethlehem Historical Society, which voted unanimously to oppose the project.

Since historic preservation includes human scale, tripling the height of buildings is not historic preservation. The Rooney building has been advanced as a precedent, but one mistake should not lead to another. The Hotel Bethlehem has also been cited, but it is on a wider street, is at the end of the historic district, and is almost adjacent to a bridge.

Make no mistake about it; this is a watershed decision. If this project is approved, there will be other proposals. Benner himself has been talking about 13 stories down the street and seven stories at Third and New. The Southside could become little more than an old area with a number of and perhaps a profusion of tall buildings. Would anyone want to live there or visit there if they didn't have to?

Main Street on the Northside shows that there is another way. Not that Main Street should be replicated exactly. One high-end district is enough. The Southside has something else to offer. I challenge anyone to walk down Fourth Street and have a cup of coffee in Deja Brew and not feel that there is something comfortable and charming about this area, with a down-to-earth atmosphere. It has been argued that the additional apartments will provide customers for Southside businesses. But another result will be higher rents, forcing some businesses out. South Side could become another high-end district.

No one is advocating that the land remain vacant, although there is something to be said for a pocket park. Benner has said that nine stories would be necessary for the project to be viable, even though this would be a CRIZ project and even though Ashley Development is only building two, three, and four stories on Third Street. Benner would like to make a profit and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But is nine stories really necessary to make a decent profit?

This vote by city council is too important to take Benner's assertion on faith. The vote should be postponed until such time as Benner makes public, not just to council, all of his assumptions and calculations lying behind the nine-story assertion. These should then be vetted by independent expertise, expertise that has no other interest in development in Bethlehem, so that it is truly independent.

In the courts there is the concept of discovery, whereby each side can view the evidence of the other side. City council is of course not a court, but the decision is a legal one, and the importance of the vote dictates a process like that of discovery.

Bill Scheirer

Bethlehem, PA 18018