Strawberry Acres Development Hearing on Tuesday

The North Whitehall Township Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the Strawberry Acres proposed housing development next Tuesday.

The meeting has been moved to the Schnecksville Fire Co. to accommodate the large crowd that is expected. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Township Manager Jeff Bartlett said the meeting will largely be a plan submission formality and no decisions will be made. Developer 5007 Overlook Road LLC still needs to obtain at least two variances from the Zoning Hearing Board before the supervisors can make any final decision, Bartlett said.

The Planning Commission tabled a decision on developer 5007 Overlook Road LLC's plan at their Aug. 27 meeting because commissioners said they needed more information and time to review the plan.

At that meeting, the developer presented a new plan that reduced the number of multi-family homes and townhouses from 144 units to more than 80 in a 55-plus community called Strawberry Farms that would be built on 25 acres of the 100-acre Strawberry Acres farm on Overlook Road in Laurys Station.

The developers have submitted a plan for an on-site sewage treatment plant, which the township is reluctant to oversee, Bartlett said.

Residents have expressed concerns about the sewage plant and increased traffic from the housing development.