Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners voted to approve Jefferson Street Playground as the official spot for the township’s proposed recreation center. It passed in a narrow 4-3 vote, with Commissioners Ken Snyder and Lee Christman, Secretary Randy Atiyeh and Vice President Thomas Slonaker voting yes, while Board President Jeffrey Warren and Commissioners Elizabeth Fox and Taylor Stakes voted against.

A few commissioners expressed their concerns and disapproval of building a recreation center at this time. The board noted this was not a decision on moving forward with the recreation center but to just select the location if it is decided to move forward.

Should the recreation center be approved by commissioners, it would officially be located at the site of the playground at 901 Jefferson St., Fullerton. Supporting documents note the site is currently comprised of open space, recreation facilities and athletic fields.

The board seeks to conduct comprehensive review of the feasibility and other factors relevant to use the site as the recreation center, including receipt and review of professional plans, site surveying and studies, potential amendments and other analyses.

Warren expressed hesitation in April’s meeting about Jefferson Street Playground when the recreation center was last discussed. He argued there weren’t enough parking spaces and not enough field space to allow for expansion and possible auxiliary activities. He also noted current zoning regulations don’t meet proper parking requirements at this time.

Snyder and Atiyeh disagreed with Warren’s hesitation regarding not enough space.

In April, the board voted on several resolutions regarding the recreation center, such as to create an ad hoc committee to oversee the feasibility of the project and provide recommendations, a motion to obtain a proposal from MKSD for architectural design services and requested a proposal for project management/construction management. The board also approved a phase 1 environmental study to be conducted.

Snyder said a number of studies have been done regarding the possible recreation center, and he has been under the impression for two years that Jefferson Street Playground would be the location.

Back in April, board members started suggesting other locations for the center, one of them being Range Road. There was also discussion among the board as to whether they wanted to build the recreation center on the Cameron Tract.

Warren mentioned visiting Upper Macungie’s recreation center, which has been touted as “the Grand Taj Mahal” by him and other board members. He mentioned Macungie has more than 400 parking spots for their center, and Whitehall would only have 86 spots.

If overflow parking was necessary, Warren mentioned more than half of the fields could possibly be used. If that was needed, he mentioned they may lose space there.

“Hearing from the public, and particularly this past weekend, there’s people [who] are adamantly against it and people for it,” Warren said. “The people for it have asked why it isn’t centrally located?”

Christman, Stakes and Fox all mentioned they didn’t think now is the time for a recreation center.

“From talking to neighbors, I am not in favor of any rec center anymore,” Christman said.

Christman noted he believes something needs to be done with Fullerton, saying it’s a “blighted property that needs some work.”

“I would like to see it at Fullerton. If you’re going to do it, do it there. I don’t think it’s the right timing for a rec center, but that’s not what’s up for a vote,” Christman added.

Stakes agreed with Christman’s comments, saying he was previously in favor for a recreation center until hearing more public input about the project, however, mentioning he “would absolutely love to see something like Upper Macungie.”

“For me right now, I’ve heard from too many residents that it doesn’t matter what location we’re picking from — I don’t think right now is the right time,” Stakes said. “We don’t have a cohesive board to go out there and say this is why we’re spending millions of dollars on something where we can’t even agree on the location for it.”

Snyder mentioned he has worked on the recreation center for two and a half years, noting several proposals have been done, with cost estimates depending on what amenities the township believes would best suit the recreation center.

Snyder believed the Fullerton area was the area where it needed to go for several reasons, noting public transportation is easy in the area, and 50% of Whitehall’s population lives “south in the Fullerton area.”

He argued recreation is not being taken care of in that area, stating the pool has been vacant for about seven years.

Snyder did agree with Warren about zoning regulations having to be changed for the project but disagreed with Warren’s worries about the field space, arguing that if they changed zoning requirements to provide more parking, they would not lose field space at Jefferson Street Playground.

Atiyeh defended the project, saying the Fullerton area does not have a lot of recreation activities anymore. He noted Presidential lost its basketball courts years ago, and Wood Street lost part of its parks. Atiyeh also mentioned Jefferson lost the pool and argued “there’s not a lot of programs provided there anymore.”

“I’m going to stand up here and back this because I still believe this part of the township gets ignored,” Atiyeh said.

He said a recreation center would not only benefit those involved in sports but other groups as well, mentioning older residents who look for something to do in the winter months.

“If you don’t invest in recreation, the kids in this township will find other things to do that aren’t always the most positive,” Atiyeh said.

A resident asked the board if the recreation center would be up for a referendum for the public to have a say, but Warren said it could not go for a referendum due to past case law, saying it’s different from the treasurer and open space referendums.

Warren reported the recreation center was voted on more than 20 years ago, and the cost for a recreation center at the time was only $5 million.

About 20 years later, a recreation center could now cost almost $20 million.

A resident asked the board, “If we don’t know how we are going to fund the recreation center, why are we picking a location?”

Snyder mentioned a tax raise may be possible for the recreation center, possibly raising taxes three quarters of a mill to cover the project.

“I don’t think that it’s worth our money to build another recreation center because if you’re not going to do it big, don’t do it at all, and we don’t have the money to do it big,” resident Lori Jarvis said.

After discussion and debate, the location passed by a narrow vote.