Easton planners OK Lafayette dorm plan
College set to start housing and retail project in the spring.
Lafayette College’s plan to build a four-story student housing and retail project in Easton’s College Hill was granted final approval Wednesday night by the city’s Planning Commission.
The approval was the last hurdle for the project which has faced significant opposition from residents of the historic neighborhood and was rejected by the commission in 2017 based on zoning regulations.
At a sparsely attended meeting, the commission approved the final development and subdivision plan in a 5-1 vote under the stipulation that the college comply with 19 conditions. Commission member Jaime Kulick cast the only dissenting vote.
Those conditions were defined as technical points that include items such as compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, federal rules for demolishing buildings in a neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places and all concerns from the city engineer, forester, zoning administrator and building code department.
Last month the commission approved a preliminary plan after city officials earlier this year made zoning changes that would allow for the project. Lafayette’s latest land development and subdivision plans were the first submitted under that new zoning.
The controversial project has faced plenty of backlash since it was first proposed two years ago. Residents who fiercely opposed the project said it would change the historic character of the neighborhood.
The Planning Commission rejected Lafayette’s original land development plan in 2017 based on the original zoning which would have required the college to get additional approvals from the Zoning Hearing Board.
The new zoning allows the project by right, meaning the college does not need approval from the zoning board.
A group of residents filed a lawsuit in June that threatened to delay the project, but the suit was dismissed last week after residents and college officials reached a settlement that includes moving 517 Clinton Terrace, a home designed by famed architect William Michler in the early 1900s that was slated for demolition.
The home will be relocated to the corner of McCartney and Hart streets in 2020 at the earliest, said Mark Eyerly, vice president of communications for the college.
After the dismissal of the lawsuit, Lafayette President Alison Byerly said the college plans to begin construction of the 165-bed, mixed-use residence hall in the spring, with plans to complete it in 2020.
In addition to student housing, the building will include retail space and patio seating on the street level. The college store will be relocated there as an expanded college and community bookstore, and a full-service diner will added to supplement campus dining options and serve the general public.
In a separate matter, the commission approved a plan for construction of a 104-space parking lot across from the Northampton County Courthouse on Washington Street at Wolf Avenue.
The new lot would increase by 50 an existing 54-space lot by demolishing a county-owned single-story brick building at 670 Wolf Ave., said county Director of Administration Charles Dertinger.
Dertinger was asked by the commission if the county would ever consider building a parking garage on the site, which Dertinger said was not an option.
“A parking deck would cost in excess of $30 million. It would cause county taxes to go up exponentially,’’ he said.
Construction of the parking lot is expected to start in the spring.
Charles Malinchak is a freelance writer.