The Oct. 14 meeting of the Lower Macungie Planning Commission involved two projects, Schwab subdivision and Sprouts Market.

The Schwab subdivision, 1470 Brookside Road, is an eight lot subdivision on a cul-de-sac that comes from the Harvest Fields neighborhood. Access will be from Lamb Terrace.

There was a discussion about having the street trees planted on the other side of the sidewalk from the curb. This will allow the roots to continue to grow without damage to the sidewalk or curb.

The planning commission agreed to a waiver on curbing and sidewalk. There was a discussion about the side slopes of the stormwater basin on the property.

There was a motion to recommend conditional approval of the project and it passed.

The second project discussed was the Sprouts Market project, 2550 Route 100. The property currently includes a St. Luke’s medical office building as well as the possibility of a bank and retail building.

The property is owned by the Jaindl Land Company. Township Planner Nathan Jones talked about the pedestrian connectivity on the property. Jones also talked about the streetscaping on the property.

There was a discussion about the architecture of the Sprouts Market building. There are currently no users for the bank and retail building as of yet.

The architecture of the bank and commercial building will be similar to that of Sprouts Market and the medical office building.

There was a discussion about the stormwater treatment on the property and the Greenway Trail project. The property has a pair of township parks nearby and Jones talked about having paved trails along both Quarry Road and Route 100.

There was a conversation about the progress of Sauerkraut Lane extension. The planning commission said the approval of the project is contingent upon the completion of Sauerkraut Lane Extension.

There was a conversation about the stormwater and sanitary sewer line. There were questions about trail connectivity and outdoor seating on the property.

Jaindl’s representative at the meeting voiced concerns about the sidewalk or trail ending near Columbine Road. He felt this was a safety issue and was worried about mid-block crossings.

There was a discussion about deferring the trail requirement. The planning commission asked if the project will come back to the planning commission if the use was changed for the third building.

Township resident Michael Siegel said he agrees with the idea of deferring the trail along Route 100. Siegel wanted to ensure the intersection at Sauerkraut Lane has a crosswalk with countdown timers and bird whistles.

He also suggested the idea of trying to deter truck drivers from using the rear driveways as a shortcut.

Siegel talked about the idea of have the stormwater basins be a wet marsh in order to benefit the birds and other animals living in the basins. There was a motion to recommend conditional approval of the project and it passed.

The next Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission meeting will be Nov. 11. 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. There will be no workshop in October.

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