City officials took time to thoroughly explain a proposed zoning change at the Martin Tower site at a meeting Oct. 6, while members of the public waited for their turn to weigh in on the proposal at a public hearing at the Bethlehem City Council regular meeting. The proposal would change the zoning to office mixed use (OMU) from a CM-LTN Landmark conservation and traditional neighborhood overlay district.

Mayor Bob Donchez supported the change, saying “it’s the best use in my opinion for the site to be productive once again.” He said the proposal was drafted by city planning and zoning officials to encourage redevelopment at the 53-acre site. “They understand what has not worked. This proposal has been approved by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and the Bethlehem Planning Commission. It is time to confer on this site more flexibility,” Donchez said.

Director of Planning and Zoning Darlene Heller started by reviewing the history of the site, which sits on the corner of Route 378, at Eighth Avenue and Eaton Avenue.

“It’s a prime site. It has exceptional transportation access and is surrounded by a variety of uses,” Heller said. The site is also near Burnside Plantation, she said. It contains the iconic 21-story tower along with an annex, printer and other outbuildings.

The tower is 900,000 square feet, while the other buildings are about 375,000 square feet combined. Completed in 1971, the tower once housed 1,800 employees. The heating and cooling mechanisms are located in the most remote outbuilding, making the site inefficient, outdated and very difficult to develop, Heller said. The building was vacated in 2007.

Since late 2013 the site has been part of the Community Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ), one of 14 total CRIZ sites in city.

Assessed value for the property was $15.825 million in 2003. It was reassessed in 2013 at only $4,650,900, for a total drop in assessed value of $11.175 million.

The property generated $178,347 in taxes in 2003, said Heller. In 2015, only $24,691 in taxes were generated.

Heller showed slides of what has to be demolished if the tower were to be renovated. The current floor plan shows a core area unusable as office space since it houses elevators and other mechanicals. This layout increases cost of square footage, since 27 percent of usable space on each floor is lost. There are 11 elevators, which would need to be modernized at a cost of approximately $12 million when an estimate was done in 2008, she said. Also, the building has asbestos and lacks a sprinkler system. The cost of these renovations would be prohibitive, she said.

The proposed change to the OMU zoning is part of a comprehensive plan to encourage a mixed-use residential and nonresidential uses in appropriate places, Heller said. The change would “revise city zoning ordinance to facilitate economic development,” she said.

Heller said the change was proposed to promote smart growth. Characteristics of smart growth include creating a range of housing opportunity choices and walkable neighborhoods but offering a variety of transportation choices. “We want to be well connected,” Heller said. Smart growth also fosters a distinctive, attractive community with strong sense of place, makes development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective, she said. In addition, smart growth provides for a mix of land uses while preserving open space, farmland natural beauty and critical environmental areas.

Heller said the review process for the proposal included approval by the city Planning Commission at meetings July 9 and Aug. 13. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) sent a “very complimentary” letter of support for the proposal, Heller said. Members of the public spoke at the public hearing on Oct. 6, but due to time constraints many never got a turn. There will be more opportunity for public comment when the proposal is scheduled for first reading at the council meeting Oct. 20 and second reading at the Nov. 4 meeting.

Meetings were also held with interested parties throughout the summer, Heller said.

Following some of the recommendations of the LVPC, the proposal lowered the maximum one-story building on the site from 375,000 square feet to 270,000 square feet.

“We want to get density on the site,” so it is important to build up, Heller said. The proposed OMU district would call for a minimum of 5 percent office, light industrial and related uses, 5 percent retail, restaurant, entertainment and related uses, and 5 percent residential. “There was a lot of discussion of what the percentage should be,” Heller said. She said a first floor restaurant with other uses above would be ideal.

Council member Eric Evans said the feedback from the LVPC was very positive, but questions if the retail use would be productive.

Since the OMU permits many uses, council member Adam Waldron asked what uses would not be permitted in the proposed zone. Heller said such businesses as car washes, car sales and more “significant impactable industrial uses” would not be permitted.

Parking requirements would be consistent with current regulations and not changed, she said.

Council member Bryan Callahan sai9d, “We have businesses as we speak that are leaving Bethlehem. Why are we telling developers you have 10 percent nonresidential when there might not be a market for it. Why do we put percentages?”

Heller said, “The market is going to change over time. Five percent is a small amount. I don’t see it as a restraint on development.”

Heller said one of the goals of is to mix uses to bring residents and office personnel into the site.

“It’s a large site. It’s rare to have an opportunity to redevelop a site like that,” Heller said. “We should be taking advantage of an opportunity here that’s been languishing too long.”