The ‘right way’ to do development

Yadira Colon-Lopez, director of Community Action Bethlehem which provides anti-poverty services across the city, said one of her goals is making sure Bethlehem residents who feel strongly about certain development projects know how to make their voices heard.

Much of the outrage over the New Street project came when it was too late, and she hopes to encourage South Siders who might have concerns about other development to get involved in the early days of projects, such as attending zoning meetings.

“It caused a lot of fuss, and I

think rightfully so,” Colon-Lopez said of the New Street project. “There was just a lot of frustration in the process. But I think that’s what I’ve learned and we’re working as an organization, ensuring that people understand the best time to get involved in a project.”

On a recent proposal to demolish several houses in the historic district for a high-rise apartment building, it seems residents got involved at just the right time. After more than a dozen residents spoke out in April against the proposal, which would demolish at least 10 homes to make way for a seven-story apartment building on Fourth Street, commission members unanimously recommended against it.

City council will have the final say.

Van Wirt called the Fourth Street development proposal an “unthoughtful, non-contextualized cookie cutter development that does not even acknowledge the existence of the people that live on the South Side and turns its back to them.”

It’s a difficult balance to strike between bolstering south Bethlehem’s economy, expanding housing options—a study by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission

showed the demand for housing far outpaces its supply in the region —and preserving Bethlehem’s historic character and affordable living.

But there’s a right way to bolster Bethlehem’s housing stock without razing historic buildings and displacing residents, councilmembers say.

For example, councilmembers unanimously approved another recent development project that Palomino is behind, an adaptive reuse of the former Holy Infancy School on 127 E. Fourth St. into a mixed-use apartment complex.

Councilmembers want to see developments that fit in with the surrounding community and provide a benefit to residents.

For example, Rachel Leon is a fan of the new apartments being built in the South Side at the former Zion First Hungarian Lutheran Church, which is not part of the historic district. The developer plans to keep the front of the church and its steeple intact, but would demolish the rear of the church to build affordable apartments. The project preserves historic architecture while also adding much-needed affordable housing to Bethlehem’s market, she said.

Van Wirt wants to see developers

with a vested interest in the community who care about more than just profit. She hopes that new city leaders will usher in a new, community-conscious era of development in Bethlehem.

“I’m really optimistic that a different way of doing business in south Bethlehem is at hand which will still attract developers but also attract new families and bring their families, build businesses in Bethlehem,” Van Wirt said. “I think there’s a way to do it the right way so the developers that want to be here respect the environment, respect the pedestrian experience.”

Bethlehem community advocates are glad to see the extra scrutiny councilmembers are applying to Bethlehem developers.

“They’re not just looking at development projects or housing issues on a surface level,” Bethlehem resident and community organizer Anna Smith said. “I think that it’s easy to just show up on the night of council and take a vote that you think will look good in the newspaper, that will align with what the administration thinks. I think that the new councilmembers in particular seem much more willing to put the time outside of just two nights a month.”