Lower Mac Zoning Hearing Board Hears Further Testimony Regarding Jaindl Development

The Lower Macungie Township Zoning Hearing Board heard continued testimony July 25 regarding the approximately 600 acres of farmland – referred to several time during the hearing as the “western third of the township – that David Jaindl is interested in developing with warehouses, commercial enterprises and a high-density residential area.

Contention was the order of the evening as Township Engineer William Erdman answered questions from lawyers Donald Miles and Thomas Anewalt for the appellants, Joseph Zator for Jaindl and Peter Lehr for the township.

Through questioning Erdman, Miles tried to establish that there were no studies done that addressed water volume or quality, nor were there any studies done regarding traffic prior to the zoning change that would allow the development to proceed.

Lehr and Zator then established by questioning Erdman, that those studies are never done at this stage and are always done – indeed are required by law to be done – after a development plan has been approved, not when zoning has been altered.

Percy Dougherty, a Lehigh County Commissioner and member of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission who also holds a doctorate in physical geography and geology and who also served on the planning commissions that established the preservation of the Lower Macungie farmland was eventually formally established as an expert witness on the topic of storm water runoff and the effects of development on the quality of water.

Dougherty said the plans to develop the area bounded by Smith Lane and Mertztown, Spring Creek and Ruth roads flies in the face of the LV Planning Commission’s comprehensive plan.

The land, he explained, is some of the best farmland in the Lehigh Valley because it’s flat and below it is limestone.

“Development will eliminate some of the most productive agricultural land in the county,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty also said that just because the mandatory studies will be done on the land in question, doesn’t mean that the testing would paint the whole picture.

“The testing applies only to the site, not to the larger area,” he said, which will be affected by more water in the stream, more silt and more mud.

To be fair, Dougherty explained that farmers, “Bless their hearts, are among the biggest polluters out there. There’s less run-off from a housing development than there is from a corn field.”

Which is why any land use must be properly cared for, he said.

The Zoning Hearing Board, which comprises Chairman William Royer and member Brian Higgins who are advised by Solicitor Mark Malkemes, heard from three appellants in the case who must prove that their property will be harmed by the development.

Peter Kells, who bought his land in 1977, built his home last year. Two months after he moved in, he found out about the Jaindl plans. A realtor has given him a verbal appraisal that his home will be devalued by at least 30 percent, he said.

Gerald Kronk gave similar testimony and stated – as did all three appellants – that the township did not notify him before the zoning ordinance was changed. Nor were any of them notified of any of the meetings at which the ordinance was discussed or the one at which it was adopted.

Constance Moyer and her husband, Ronald, have lived in their home on Butz Road since 1965. They moved there from the city, she said, because they wanted to be away from development.

But now they can look out and see the nearby homes built by Pulte Development.

“It’s just terrible,” she said. “We don’t want people walking all around our house at night. We don’t want the garbage that gets strewn about.”

After her questioning, she had one more statement. Though timid – her husband, she said, was too nervous to speak out – she had words directly regarding what she felt was the crux of the problem:

“Mr. Jaindl, you may win because you have power,” she said, “But it’s not right, and it’s not good.”

The hearing will continue with oral arguments at 6:30 Aug. 10 in the meeting room of the township building.