Friends and Neighbors,

We will be holding an open house tonight (3/14) to review proposed changes to zoning at the township building from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. This isn’t a formal hearing (that will come later) but rather an informal presentation meant to be more user friendly for residents to give feedback.

This is a significant step in what has been a multi year process to retake control of Lower Macungie’s land use future ensuring we remain a wonderful place to live with balance between economic development, our quality of life and our agricultural heritage.

In 2013 members of the current board were elected in response to residents frustration with prior board land use decisions resulting in the proliferation of warehouses and rapid loss of farmland. 

In response the current board undertook a new mantra to “preserve land whenever and wherever we can, and where we can’t seek higher quality development in appropriate locations.”

To roll out that strategy, in 2016 we strategized funding and mapped out an aggressive preservation program. With it, we have already worked to permanently preserve well over 400 acres. Including one of the largest farmland preservation deals of it’s kind in Lehigh Valley history.

Next, in 2017 immediate triage was needed in the form of removing warehouses from the zoning code in all areas except court mandated ones. Further, we took the additional step to actually deny a conditional use for a warehouse that was potentially grandfathered before new laws took place. 

Then, throughout 2018 we worked with planning partners (Alburtis, Macungie, Upper + Lower Milford and Emmaus) to update the Southwest Regional Comprehensive Plan. 

And finally, we used that process to inform the current code update overviewed here. The new code deals with seeking higher value growth when preservation isn’t an option. 

We’re integrating tools such as incentivizing historic building preservation, further utilizing conservation clusters as a way to preserve open space within new residential projects, establishing a new enterprise zone to attract high quality economic development, enacting high quality design standards and guiding growth away from greenfields towards appropriate corridors where infrastructure exists. When an attractive project is proposed in Lower Mac, the goal is to get government out of the way as much as possible. By becoming more attractive for high quality developers to bring high value economic development at appropriate locations we’re actually helping our preservation efforts in the agricultural areas of the township.

Everything last 4+ years has been about balancing preservation goals with seeking higher value economic development. I hope you join us tonight to overview some of the new and exciting changes.

Thank you,
Ron