The Dec. 14 Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission meeting included four applications: the Fields at Brookside, Woodmont Valley Phase II, Neighborhood Hospital Macungie and Brookside Meadows Apartments.

The first application discussed was the Fields at Brookside. Planning Director Nathan Jones asked about the effect the development would have on traffic in the area. There was also talk about stormwater mitigation on the property.

The project was represented by engineer Nicole Galio. There was discussion about the walking trail on the property and extending the sidewalk along Willow Lane. The planning commission mentioned planting a line of trees along the fence by the walking trail.

Resident Mike Segal asked the planning commission to work with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to retime the Sauerkraut Lane and Willow Lane traffic signals and create a delayed green during peak hours. The planning commission decided to table the discussion until the next meeting.

The next application discussed was Woodmont Valley Phase II. The site has immediate frontage on Route 100. The property would include eight apartment buildings and two mixed use buildings in the front of the property. These mixed use buildings would consist of commercial businesses or offices on the first floor and apartments above them. The property would have a total of 120 apartment units.

The property has several amenities including walking trails and a dog park. The planning commission brought up the idea of possibly putting in a crosswalk to allow pedestrians to reach the development on the other side of Route 100.

Jones mentioned trying to preserve existing trees on the property. The Woodmont Valley property was represented by Catherine Durso, of Fitzpatrick Lentz and Bubba. There was a discussion about the traffic on Route 100 and the possibility of stormwater issues.

There was a lot of discussion about the walkability of the project. Neighboring resident Jeff Hartman asked about the boundary line between his property and the Woodmont Property. He was concerned about some trees on his property and wanted to ensure they would be preserved.

Segal commended Durso for the stormwater plan for the property. He urged all parties involved to work with PennDOT to get adaptive traffic signaling on Route 100.

Segal said some of the older stormwater basins along Route 100 are not holding water and causing flooding by Swabia Creek and Indian Creek Road. The planning commission decided to unanimously recommend approval of the conditional use plan to the board of commissioners.

The next applicant discussed was Neighborhood Hospital Macungie. This property would include a single story neighborhood hospital and a three story medical office building.

Jones talked about increasing the existing buffer as some of the trees have succumbed to disease. The project was represented by Attorney Peter Lehr, of Norris McLaughin and Marcus.

There was talk about dark sky lighting being used on the property as well as a naturalized stormwater basin. Lehr talked about the amount of parking spaces on the property. The current plan has six additional parking spaces from the plan at the last meeting.

The planning commission motion to recommend approval of the conditional use application passed unanimously.

Another project discussed during the meeting was the Brookside Meadows Apartments. The property would include three story apartment structures and 44 units. The major planning issues for the site include potential flooding on the property and intersection improvements. The planning commission is looking for a crosswalk at the intersection of Brookside Road so residents can walk to the nearby township community center and pool.

Brookside Meadows Apartments was represented by Durso as well as Tony Ganguza, of Boyle Construction. Durso said they could improve the curbing along the frontage of the property and perform maintenance on the private drive to their property, but could not provide frontage or right-of-way on the drive as they do not have ownership.

Durso said the best way for pedestrian access would be to add a four-way stop at the intersection of Brookside Road, Indian Creek Road and the private driveway in order to put in a crosswalk. She said they have reached out to PennDOT but have not come to a resolution yet.

Durso asked about a request for a southbound left turn lane on Brookside Road. She questioned if there was already a design for the intersection improvement or if they were expected to design the entire intersection. Durso asked to postpone the left lane addition until the township had a design to improve the rest of the intersection.

Durso said the intersection is the best place for the crosswalk but she can’t guarantee the ability to create a path to the community center as they do not own the land across the road. The planning commission decided to table the discussion until the next meeting.

The next Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission meeting will be Jan. 11, 2022. There will be a workshop Jan. 18. Usually the planning commission meets the second Tuesday of every month and occasionally there is a workshop meeting on the third Tuesday of the month.

Workshops begin 6 p.m. while meetings begin 7 p.m. and currently all planning commission meetings will be held both in person and over Zoom with a video recording uploaded to the township’s YouTube channel after the fact.