Catasauqua Press

Vincent Smith approached the Catasauqua Zoning Hearing Board April 21 to ask for a variance to add an apartment to his primary residence at 125 Front St.

"There has always been an apartment on the third floor and it has a separate entrance," he said.

According to Smith, when he purchased the house it was divided into three apartments. He converted the property to a single-family dwelling once he completed his renovations. Now that his family is older and members of the family have moved out of the house, he no longer needs the 3,700 square feet of space the house provides.

At Catasauqua's annual Arbor Day celebration April 25, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources awarded the borough its 18th consecutive Tree City Award.

State Forester Timothy Latz presented the award to Mayor Barbara Schlegel.

"The award represents the efforts of many in the community," Schlegel said in her remarks. "It is a tribute to the shade tree commission [members] who have worked so diligently for nearly two decades to make the borough more beautiful. We have dedicated over 300 trees in the borough."

At Catasauqua Borough Council's workshop session Monday, council members seemed to shy away from a prior consensus that the proposed municipal building be as big as possible and include space for relocating the borough's public library.

Early in the meeting, borough Manager Eugene Goldfeder reported he received correspondence from the library board giving a thumbs-up to relocating at the new building.

Not so fast, said Councilwoman Debra Mellish.

Hanover Township Solicitor Jackson Eaton is preparing a revision to the township zoning ordinance regarding cell towers for the council's approval.

The revision was called for at the April 1 council meeting, where township Manager Sandra Pudliner reported Hanover's zoning hearing board had approved a cell tower in office park LVIP III on Marcon Boulevard.

Verizon Wireless had requested the tower to increase capacity in the immediate area. There was some opposition to the request, but it was handled by the hearing board.

Solicitor Jackson Eaton responded to queries from Hanover Council members at their meeting on April 15. Eaton is working closely with Attorney Joseph Fitzpatrick to iron out the legal language on an agreement that will allow the proposed FedEx warehouse project to begin in Allen Township. Fitzpatrick represents the Rockefeller Group, the lead developer for the FedEx project.

At its regular meeting April 6, Catasauqua Borough Council made a change to the way it regulates disruptive behavior by tenants in rental properties.

"Our existing code says that a landlord receives a letter about a disruptive tenant after three police calls," explained Council President Vincent Smith.

In the letter, the landlord is asked to evict the tenant. The borough wants to enforce the policy, but there are extenuating circumstances.

The Borough of Catasauqua's lead architect, Spillman Farmer Architects, has proposed three options to the borough for a new municipal building at the Iron Works. At the March 30 council workshop session, council members looked at the options.

After some discussion at the April 6 meeting, council ruled out a bare-bones option.

Councilman Brian McKittrick explained his reasoning.

Verizon Wireless asked the Hanover Zoning Hearing Board to approve a cell tower in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park III, which stretches along Marcon Boulevard near the airport. The township has no provisions for cell towers in any industrial park, a situation that will be addressed in the future. Because LVIP III was established before the onslaught of mobile phones; provisions for a cell tower are neither included nor excluded in the zoning ordinance.

Catasauqua Borough Council members will be voting to approve the basic building design for new municipal facilities to be constructed on the borough-owned Iron Works property along Front Street at their April 6 meeting.

At the March 30 workshop meeting, Councilwoman Christine Weaver presented the options, drafted by the architectural firm hired by the borough.

A handful of businesses in the Lehigh Valley Industrial Park III in Hanover Township are reviewing plans for a proposed Verizon cell tower in the area.

"It is scheduled for a zoning hearing on March 26, but there may be objectors," township Manager Sandra Pudliner informed council at the March 18 meeting. "I have not heard from the airport, but they were notified."

If council has a specific opinion on a zoning issue, they are at liberty to send the township solicitor to the meeting to present council's point of view; however, the final decision is up to the zoning board.