Northampton Area OKs road realignment

Part of Seemsville Road will go over district property.

School Board members in Northampton Area School District have signed off on a developer’s plan to realign a state road over a portion of district property.

The board Monday approved the development agreement between JW Development Partners and the district to grant an easement as part of an extension of Seemsville Road easterly across 13.5 acres of a 92-acre parcel within its ownership.

The board voted 7-2 to authorize the signing of the agreement, with Chuck Longacre and James Chuss voting no.

The agreement mandates that the developer — including local businessman David Jaindl in partnership with Watson Land Company, Carson, Calif. — abides by the terms of the deed restriction that ties the district to the land.

The deed, which dates back to 1995 when the district purchased the land from the state, says that the land “shall be used for education and related purposes of the school district” and that it shall immediately revert back to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania if used for anything else.

Board Solicitor C. Steven Miller said the proposed use meets that obligation by building public infrastructure improvements that will benefit the school district.

Those improvements include the extension of utility lines across the property, stormwater basins and turning lanes.

“Everything they will do we would have to do and pay for,” he said.

The district anticipates $4.5 million in improvements overall, Superintendent Joe Kovalchik said.

The work will pave the way for the district to eventually develop the land, he said, perhaps for a new elementary school to keep up with expanding enrollment, or a new administration building.

“We’re looking 5-to-10 years out from where we need to be,” Kovalchik said.

The road realignment is related to Jaindl’s plan to build six warehouses on nearly 300 acres between Seemsville and Howertown roads in Allen Township, with the abandonment of the current intersection of Seemsville and Nor-Bath Boulevard deemed necessary to increase sight distances and make it safer for tractor-trailers to enter that roadway.

Longacre said the agreement doesn’t define the amount for which the district will be compensated for granting the easement, and fails to indemnify the district against liability.

He said he wasn’t in favor of putting tractor-trailers close to schools and students.

“I feel the entire project is not in the best interests of the school district or our students,” he said.

Kevin Duffy is a freelance writer.