A potential proposal from a resident to convert his property into 19 additional units on top of 6 already approved by the Planning Commission took up about 30 minutes of Fountain Hill Borough Council’s May 4 meeting.

Located at 1401 Broadway, the 19 units would be split between two floors, said Amy Harris, the real estate agent for Muhammed Bendjlali, whose family owns the property in question.

The additional units would address a need for senior housing in the Bethlehem area, Harris said.

“I’ve been in real estate for the last 20 years,” Harris said. “I’ve been doing leasing for the last 15. In the last five years, there’s just been an increase of people who are downsizing, selling their properties. They don’t want and they’re not ready for assisted living.”

The council listened to remarks from Harris, Bendijali and Blake Marles, Bendijali’s attorney.

In response, council members brought up concerns around Bethlehem sewer capacity, accessibility of the building for seniors with disabilities and asked about the current use of the first floor. Marles said the floor doesn’t have realistic commercial value due to the property’s proximity to a Wawa and a Dollar General.

Council President Stewart McCandless told the group that he thinks the proposal may have potential, but emphasized that they need to go to the planning commission first, as council doesn’t have a say until the committee weighs in.

Council passed an ordinance detailing when a home’s sewage system is inspected and needs to be replaced, expanding the previous of 60-day deadline to a full year. This typically applies when properties are being sold, said Borough Manager Amy Burkhart.

“The inspection process would remain, and we would continue to inspect our sewer levels,” Burkhart said. “The likelihood is when a new purchaser, a new buyer, is buying a house they don’t want the owner to take long, like doing a sewer level repair in the first year. But we’re going to leave that for the real estate agents to work through because that’s what they do.”

The council moved to keep the pool rates the same for summer of 2026 and approved the use of Borough facilities and property for Fountain Hill Little League’s car wash.

Fountain Hill Little League President Mike Yurasek also mentioned that there will be a men’s baseball league starting this summer, playing at Dodson Fields. Resident Mike Zovko shared during the privilege of the floor that he is planning to start a walking program for people in the Borough, along with a chess club for all ages.

In their reports, both Mayor Micheal Johnson and McCandless mentioned their gratitude for the success of Arbor Day on April 24, and McCandless reminded residents to remain vigilant about parking and pick up their dog’s waste.

“It just gets old because it’s all year and it’s continual,” McCandless said about the dog waste. “I don’t know what else we can do about it other than mentioning it and you can get in trouble for it. So please, be a responsible owner.”

The council workshop meeting is scheduled for May 18 at 7 p.m.