Ron Gawlik, senior engineering manager with The Pidcock Company, presented his recommendations to Catasauqua Borough Planning and Zoning Committee on how to lay out the Iron Works site so it can best accommodate a future developer and keep enough area preserved for the new municipal building.

Presently, the site is a mishmash of parcels and easements that were instituted to aid local manufacturing options with the Fuller Company.

“What we propose are three separate parcels, all of which will still be owned by the borough,” Gawlik said in opening remarks.

The three parcels are divided so that a little over one acre is dedicated to the municipal building, 11 acres are reserved for development and almost an acre is dedicated to parking and street improvements along Front Street.

The property has several easements that are significant and show some creativity in best utilizing the limited acreage. The most intriguing easement is the one for parking at the municipal building. The idea was crafted by Solicitor Thomas Dinkelacker. Essentially, parking for people other than the staff is an easement.

“It gives us several advantages. First, we can share parking with businesses or residents in the development. Second, if a developer comes in and wants to design parking, we don’t need to transfer property ownership,” he said.

Next to the municipal building is the old railroad depot that borough Manager Eugene Goldfeder indicated has generated some interest from developers. The easement would allow the business owner to configure parking between the two buildings to maximize parking during peak business hours.

“They could configure the parking that makes the most sense,” Goldfeder said. “If we owned the land, we would need to sell the property to the highest bidder, and that might not be the business owner.”

Other easements include an alternate access route for emergency vehicles.

“If Front Street is blocked, we need an alternate to get to Willow Street. The site plan shows it as a direct path, but it can be located anywhere on the site,” Goldfeder said.

FL Smidth asked for an easement as part of the sale. According to Goldfeder, on some occasions, FL Smidth needs to bring in large equipment for testing. They need access because a large truck cannot make the turn into its property on Gas Street.

“We want to write up the easement, so it is restrictive. They initially said they need access a couple of times a year, but they want to increase the frequency. We want to keep the access at a minimum,” he said.

There are standard easements for utilities and sewer. These easements are along the extended part of Bridge Street that will be in front of the municipal building. Stormwater will be piped under the site and dropped into the Lehigh Canal. According to Goldfeder, the stormwater proposal awaits approval, but it is expected.

“We are only extending Bridge Street to the end of the municipal lot. We expect the developer to take it from that point. The internal roads can be public or private,” Goldfeder said.

According to Goldfeder, the third parcel - the one reserved for parking and improvements along Front Street - is also something he is expecting the developer to complete.

Lot two is then reserved in its entirety for the developer. There are restrictions.

“A developer can’t come in and say that he wants to slice off a portion for a restaurant at the old railroad depot,” Goldfeder said.

The borough is looking for one developer to control the site and create a master plan.

“Once we have an approved plan, then we can move forward,” Goldfeder said. “A developer with experience in commercial development might want to pass off a portion of the tract to a residential developer.”

The idea was to make sure that a developer has a great amount of flexibility to deliver a great planned unit development while incorporating all the necessary elements the borough needs to see.

“We want to be sure that we have at least four different uses on the property. It can’t be all residential or all commercial,” Goldfeder said.

Last month borough council passed an amendment to the zoning ordinance that created a Waterfront District. The new legislation describes permitted uses on the Iron Works site. The developer will have the right to clear the land or do whatever is necessary to meet the approved plan.

“We added some incentives to preserve historical buildings. The idea is to try and keep some semblance of the historical significance of the site wherever possible,” Goldfeder said.