What: Bethlehem Council Meeting
Date: July 20th, 2021 at 7:00pm
Article:
Most of the July 20th city council meeting concerned the development plan for former site of Martin Tower--a conversation that has been ongoing for years. Alloy5, the architectural firm overseeing the development, gave a presentation showing how the completed project might look. Council will not vote on this proposal until a future meeting.
Prior to the meeting, the plan was amended by Councilman Colón to address concerns about parking. This parking issue had been a primary concern of council. Overall, council found the presentation alleviated many of their worries and addressed issues related to stormwater run-off, traffic flow, and how the development fit in with the area. Both the Bethlehem Planning Commission and Lehigh Valley Planning Commission approved the current plan, though LVPC had some reservations especially with ensuring bicycle accessibility. However, Councilwoman Van Wirt stated that Alloy5 should still follow normal practice and take the plan before the zoning hearing board to approve the needed variance.
The topic of affordable housing was notably absent from the discussion of the former Martin Tower site. However, this topic was discussed at length during the Finance Committee meeting earlier that day. A Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) zone to encourage affordable housing development in south Bethlehem was proposed. This would “require projects that apply for LERTA benefits with 10 or more residential units to either dedicate 10% of the units as affordable or make a contribution of $25,000 per unit otherwise reserved for affordable housing to an affordable housing trust fund.” A property that successfully applies for LERTA benefits still has to pay land tax but is exempt from tax related to new construction or renovation. This exemption starts at 100% then decreases 10% every year. Under this proposal, after reaching 0% they would no longer need to retain affordable units. The proposal defines affordable housing “as housing in which each and every occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities.” The LERTA would largely target vacant lots in south Bethlehem.
Affordable housing is a serious issue and one the DSA advocates for. According to the city administration, 46% of the population is low to moderate income. Meanwhile, rents continue to go up 4% per year and 41% of renters are overburdened, as are 18% of owner occupied units. The need for affordable housing is clear but the proposal is likely insufficient. Councilwoman Van Wirt was concerned the $25,000 contribution was too low. Councilman Reynolds was more defensive of it stating if it were too high no one would build on the lots. Councilwoman Crampsie Smith pointed out that both Pittsburgh and State College had set their contributions to well in excess of $100,000. She stressed the need for empirical formulas to arrive at the figure for contributions.
Anna Smith of the Community Action Development Corporation was glad to see the issue being discussed, but encouraged council to think beyond the existing proposal. Like the councilwomen, she was also concerned the contributions were too low and that the focus needs to be on the most in need families--those households making less than $35,000 per year. She proposed using an “affordability gap” to determine the contributions, which she estimated should be $90,000 at least.
Ultimately, the committee decided not to bring this proposal to council without more investigation.