Tonight: LMT BOC May Vote on Jaindl Subdivision
I hope to see you tonight at the BOC meeting. It is critically important that residents voice all concerns they have regarding this monstrous development. If you are uncomfortable speaking that is OK. It's still very important you attend to support those who do.
Remember, the legal matter is still in the courts. Should the community prevail, this plan will be nullified. BUT we must prepare for the worst while we hope for the best. Should we have to live with this gamechanging development we must have more answers.
When: 7pm TONIGHT - The subdivision is first on the agenda
Where: 3400 Brookside Rd. Enter the municipal complex and take a left (Do not go to the library). Enter the middle door and head up the stairs.
What to expect: The BOC will likely give a presentation filled with engineering jargon and words like 'improvements' (aka perpetual road construction with the sole purpose of accomodating this development paid for in part with our tax dollars) and 'western greenway' (aka floodzone that can't be built on anyway). It will be confusing. We'll try to make sense of it tomorrow in a post.
Remember, that this is a massive plan, largest I've ever seen. The public will then have an opportunity to ask questions. Afterwords they may vote on this thing. It's my hope they hold a special public hearing to address concerns. This is afterall, to my knowledge the largest subdivision in township history.
Remember whats at stake:
- 4 million square feet of warehouse - To put in perspective....take every truck you see on LMT streets and times it by 2.
- 700-900 'urban density' homes - An incredible and costly strain (both in terms of dollars and quality of education) to our East Penn School District.
- Hundreds of thousands of Sq ft of Strip Malls
Did you know this plan calls for a widening of Rt. 100 to 4 lanes and the addition of possibly up to 4 traffic lights on the stretch? Do you know it is unclear who pays for this? (Taxpayers?)
jandils Friend
11:24 am on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Let him do it, its his land, how would you like it of someone came and told you what you can and can not do with your land. P.S. probably 90% of the people who are fighting this have homes that were built on what used to be farm land.
Mark Spengler
12:08 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Jandils if you prefer anarchy to representativie democracy that includes local government zoning regulations than perhaps you should move away. You know on the other hand I was considering building a nuclear power plant on my property so maybe you are on to something here. Can you provide me the contact information for some of the Anarchist clubs you belong to so I can join? See what you have here is a government that changed the laws to allow this and it was done without public imput. No, we don't live in United States of anarchy. Sorry to be the one to break it to you. Do what you want with your land within the context of zoning regulations. This is true unless you are the natural gas industry or a billionaire threatening to build a quarry.
Missy Moyer-Schneck
2:18 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
LOL....just another clueless nutjob
Scott Bieber
3:42 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Dear Jaindl's Friend, The issue is not what he can and can't do with his land, the issue is zoning. Zoning is a power of government, approved by the Supreme Court, that regulates how land can be used in order to provide orderly land development. If the Lower Macungie citizens had been allowed to participate in the decision two years ago to change the zoning to allow Jaindl to develop his land, we would have no objection because the public would have given its OK .But the township commissioners decided in secret to change the zoning to suit Jaindl. That is our only complaint. We are fighting this land development only because it is being allowed by a secretly-made zoning change, which we are hoping to overturn in the courts.
You are correct in that almost all of us live in houses that were once farmland. Does that mean we as a community have to allow all farmland to be developed ? Do we as a community have to allow ourselves to be overpopulated ?
If I was you neighbor, would you mind if I opened a slaughter house hext to your house ? Or how about a used car lot. Or a junk yard. Or a dog kennel. Or a nighclub. Or a sewage plant. Or a trash station. According to you I should have that right.
I welcome your reply.
Jaindl Friend
4:41 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Dear Scott, I would welcome a slaughter house hext to my house also a used car lot., a junk yard. a dog kennel. a nightclub. a sewage plant. a trash station. If thats what you want on your property more power to you. Jaindl WILL win so why waste all this money fighting it, even if he is defeated this time he will come back with something else and that land will be built on, all you doing is delaying the inevitable. i know alot of people dont agree with me and im ok with that, like i said before i have my opinion and you have yours. And as far as your house once being farmland, what makes you so special that you can put your house on farmland but you wont afford those same rights to someone else who wants to do the same thing, where i come from that's called a HYPOCRITE.
Mark Spengler
4:45 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Does anybody here believe Jaindils freind is being honest?
How many believe he is being encouraged or even paid by our opponents?
Ron Beitler
12:00 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
"Jandils (spelled wrong) friend" - There are rules and regulations that DO tell me what I can and can't do with my land. Thats zoning. And it's an American Concept. Here's some history...
The first zoning law in the USA was a result of the Equitable building... an early skyscraper built in NYC in 1916. When built this building towered over the neighboring residences. It completely covered all available land area within the property boundary, blocked all windows of neighboring buildings and diminished the availability of sunshine for the people in the affected area. It destroyed quality of life and property value for neighbors. THIS IS WHY we have zoning laws for past 100 years in the United States. To ensure residents are protected. This is the rule of law.
As a conservative I believe in the rule of law.
I also don't believe in the gov't or taxpayer subsidizing private landowners. You must think it's OK for the community to subsidize these road improvements? We will pay the price tag for much of it. Thats just initial... what about future maintenance, repair and upgrades? We are being forced to invest in this revenue loser. Whats our return on investment?
Your OK being forced to pay for these roads and maintenance with no guarantee us as a community will ever be paid back? Your ok with that?
Ryan Werst
12:05 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
What about my rights? I grew up and my parents still live on the little lehigh. Have lived there for decades. What about my rights not to be flooded out every year?
jandils Friend
12:43 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
If you want to build a power plant on ur property go for it, oh and Ron thanks for the history lesson, unfortunately everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I think this development is a good idea, it will bring more jobs to the area, and as far as taxpayer's paying for road improvements I think they should, you use these roads too. And Ryan tell your parents to put their houses on stilts, I have lived in this area my whole life, 30+ years and flooding along mertztown road really isn't that much worse then it used to be....Just saying.
Mark Spengler
12:48 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
You bet I will Jadilis Jaindl supporter. Don't mind the radiation spike and all the dead birds laying in your back yard. Also, you will be paying for some studies and a bunch of capital projects to make it all posible. What about those anarchy contacts I asked you for? Son't leave me hanging wild man!
Ryan Werst
12:49 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
It's definitely worse. Absolutely. Floods faster and recedes slower. Mertztown rd is CURRENTLY (that is until this development is built) above most of the storm water discharge from LMT developments of the last 20 years. I am below. Totally different story.
Jaindl Friend
12:55 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Sorry about the misspelling. Hope this is better.
Jaindl Friend
12:57 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Also let me know when your done with that power plant, I'd like to tie in and hopefully lower my electric bill. Thanks.
Ron Beitler
1:00 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Jobs.... love that one too. You must know a lot of people in LMT looking for 9.50-10.50 hr warehouse jobs. (Read a morning call article about Amazon they pay seasonal temps even worse I think) Thats little over 20,000 dollars a year. If a warehouse employs 150 people directly 130 are wage workers. Maybe you do know people looking for 20,000 a year work? We need tech/office and high end retail jobs. These are revenue winners.
A friend of mine works at a large distribution center in Fogel. He is a logistics manager. The ENTIRE MASSIVE building only employs about 15-20 managers at living waged. The rest... 9.50-10.50 wage workers. Mostly temps. Mostly from Allentown and Reading. You don't think it makes more sense to put these jobs near where they are needed? You think LMT residents should subsidize these jobs in green fields?
We're building 4 million sq foot of warehouse to employ a couple dozen LMT residents. These jobs are DESPERATELY needed in the city of Allentown. You must also be ok with subsidizing LANTA to transport people all the way out here. I support public transportation but not when it's needed as a result of poor planning. LANTA is incredibly inefficient and runs almost completely on subsidies.
Right now today Rt. 100 doesn't need to be 4-5 lanes. Do you think it does? Are you having trouble getting down it even during rush hour? So Yes, I am paying for Jaindls development. I don't need these "improvements". Absolutely don't.
Ron Beitler
1:05 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Bottom line... your entitled to you opinion and I respect it. I'm pretty good at seeing other peoples viewpoints at least I like to think that. But this I simply do not get. Lotta of opinions I don't agree with but at least I understand where they come from. With this, I wish I understood how people support this. All the houses I knocked on over the last 2 years I've met maybe 2 dozen who support the project vs. hundreds and hundreds who don't. The SMALL minority who do often go back to the 'landowners rights' thing. But to do that in case case you have to throw our 100 years of zoning laws in this country.
Must be some people simply think a property owner can do whatever they please no matter how it affects everyone else.
On the property owner front. If you support widening Rt. 100 to 4-5 lanes your also ok with eminent domain. . . makes no sense!
Jaindl Friend
1:18 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
If it gets to the point where there is so much traffic that RT100 needs to be widened I say go for it, P.S. Jaindl already owns just about all the land along Rt100 so no worry about eminent domain.
Ron Beitler
1:29 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
And your ok with paying for that? Eventhough what's causing it has no benefit to the township. According to cost/benefit analysis I have seen it won't even pay for itself when you factor in EPSD/Services such as fire and police and of course roads and streets. Jaindl does not own all the frontage on Rt. 100. He owns a small 14 acre parcel near Mack Trucks.
If your ok with paying for all this then I guess it is what it is. Your a far richer man then me I guess?
I'm not rich and I'm not ok with the community investing in something where we have not been shown how our investment will pay off. Both in dollars and cents and also quality of life. All the development of the past 20 years and we're not at a point where it's sustainable. Familiar with a ponzi scheme? Thats what greenfield growth is. Never pays for itself and you constantly need to keep growing to sustain it. Then one day... BAM major and sudden tax increases.
Janet Persing
5:53 pm on Sunday, May 6, 2012
Ron, your comments would be better expressed if you could use punctuation. Also, please understand the difference between "your," meaning something that you possess. As in, "your car." And "You're," in which the apostrophe stands in for the missing letter. As in, "You are."
Ron Beitler
6:11 pm on Sunday, May 6, 2012
I know... Punctuation sometimes is a casualty of the convenience of posting from an iPhone while on the go... I need a punctuation app.