Friends Will Present Petition to LMT Board of Commissioners Tonight

A small group from the Friends for the Protection of Lower Macungie Township called a press conference at 4 p.m. today in the middle of the 600 acres of recently cut corn to deliver a message.

The group -- including a few of the appellants in the ongoing lawsuit against the township -- will attend tonight's meeting of the township Board of Commissioners with the list of almost 500 signatures they have collected from people who oppose the construction of warehouses, strip malls and townhouses on the site.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Lower Macungie Township Building.

They want the BOC to repeal the zoning amendment that will allow it.

"This is the last place in the township where you have a 360-degree view of farmland," said Friends member Ron Beitler.

It's bad enough that there are plans in the works to develop the land owned by David Jaindl, they say, but the structures in the works couldn't be more repugnant.

"Warehouses are the worst kind of development," said friends member Scott Bieber, "They take up the most amount of space and provide the smallest number of jobs.'

The Friends hope the Lower Macungie Commissioners will acknowledge the groups's efforts at tonight's meeting. But they have not been well received in the past.

"They just treat us like a bunch of pesky gnats," said neighbor, Friends member and appellant Connie Moyer.