During my time as spokesman for "Friends for the Protection of Lower Macungie Township," David Jaindl has consistently reached out to the public and the group going above and beyond to hear community concerns.
At 3 p.m. today he will present his "enhanced plan" for the Spring Creek development in the southwest corner of LMT. The meeting will take place at his office at 3150 Coffeetown Road, Orefield. It is open to the public.
This plan represents significant re-thinking by Mr. Jaindl to address some core concerns: traffic, smart growth, fiscal sustainability and quality of life.
And after the meeting, Friends board members will vote on whether to drop the lawsuit against the township that has been fought and appealed for more than a year. Deadline to present the case to the state Supreme Court is Monday.
At every stage of this process Jaindl has kept open the lines of communication. This is largely what I've always hoped for but sadly never received from the Lower Macungie Township officials. Critical times this would have helped where a) when critical decisions were being made on whether or not the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was actually a better alternative to the originally proposed quarry, and b) before the township appealed the county court decision that ruled in the appellants favor.
In my personal opinion the compromise is close to representing the better alternative we have always sought. That is short of being able to overturn the zoning wholesale through the courts.
The enhanced plan presented includes:
- Swapping the location of the large active park component to an area that makes more sense adjacent to the Borough of Alburtis. No longer will residents have to drive through warehousing to access the park.
- An additional 45 acres of farmland to remain preserved west of Butz Road.
- 2 acres of land for a fire station will be dedicated to the township.
- Some interior roads of the warehousing tracts will be private. The township will never have to maintain these roads and assume the costs.
- The commercial area will be reduced to 71,000 square feet of space, down from roughly 443,000 square feet.
- A commitment to developing housing for people aged 55 and older which would limit the impact on our school district.
At 3pm today the "Friends" board, appellants and interested residents will be able to view a presentation by Mr. Jaindl at his office at Jaindl Farms. The board will then vote on whether or not to drop funding of the lawsuit. I am no longer serving in the capacity as spokesperson but I am going into this of the opinion that this plan represents significant re-thinking by Mr. Jaindl to address some of our core concerns.
I'm hopeful. Please note Mr. Jaindl has opened this meeting up to the public.
Jaindl Farms: 3150 Coffeetown Road Orefield, PA 18069
