Allentown Planning Commission Meeting – February 10, 2026
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Allentown Planning Commission Meeting – February 10, 2026
The Allentown City Planning Commission (ACPC) met on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at 12:25 PM in Council Chambers at 435 Hamilton Street. The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 PM. Commissioners addressed an extension request for the Central Park Apartments, approved a minor land development at 1420 Walnut Street, and tabled two major land developments (112 N 8th Street and 138 N 9th Street) pending zoning approvals.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (January 13, 2026): Unanimously approved as written (6-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Harold Barber (143 North Fountain Street) spoke during Item #5 (138 N 9th Street – The Vault Residences). He thanked the Commission for considering parking impacts, supported a loading zone, expressed concerns about pedestrian access during construction (urging limited accommodation if sidewalks are closed), and noted worries about the building’s size and sinkholes in the area.
Discussion Items
- Extension Request – Central Park Apartments (605-665 Wahneta Street): Staff recommended a one-year extension to February 13, 2027, for recording plans and entering a land development agreement. The project involves 12 buildings, 126 units, and coordination with City Center Investment Corporation’s Northridge development. Commissioner Craig Beavers noted the unique circumstances justified the extension; Chair Christian Brown agreed the challenging site made a denial unlikely to yield a better project under the new code. The extension was granted unanimously (6-0).
- Land Development – 1420 Walnut Street (Minor – Preliminary/Final): Staff presented a proposal to demolish a garage and construct a 2-unit building, with existing house conversion to 4 units. Conditions included landscaping along the school property line, a lighting plan, and addressing city comment letter items. Discussion focused on landscaping (fence vs. plantings) and trash handling. The Commission approved with conditions (6-0).
- Land Development – 112 N 8th Street – AW Living (Major – Preliminary/Final): A seven-story, 23-unit studio apartment building with no on-site parking (proposed spaces at the APA Spiral Deck). Staff recommended deferral until the Zoning Hearing Board (ZHB) rules on demolition in the HBDO district. The applicant requested conditional approval, but the Commission voted to table (5-0, with one recusal by Leslie Hartzell) to allow the developer to first obtain HARB and ZHB approvals.
- Land Development – 138 N 9th Street – The Vault Residences (Major – Preliminary/Final): A seven-story, 40-unit mixed-use building (29 studios, 11 one-bedrooms) with 2,705 SF of retail. Parking proposed at the APA 940 Linden Street deck. Staff again recommended waiting for ZHB demolition approval. Commissioner concerns included coordination with adjacent Resurrected Life Church, alley access for trash, and the design’s compatibility with historic context. The Commission tabled (5-0, with one recusal) pending zoning approvals.
Key Outcomes
- Central Park Apartments Extension: Approved one-year extension to February 13, 2027 (motion by Beavers, seconded by Hornung; 6-0).
- 1420 Walnut Street: Approved with conditions (landscaping, lighting plan, city comment letter compliance) (motion by Beavers, seconded by Brown; 6-0).
- 112 N 8th Street – AW Living: Tabled to allow applicant to obtain HARB and ZHB approvals; time extension agreed upon (motion by Beavers, seconded by Glazier; 5-0, Hartzell abstained).
- 138 N 9th Street – The Vault Residences: Tabled similarly; time extension agreed upon (motion by Glazier, seconded by Hornung; 5-0, Hartzell abstained).
- New Commissioner: Kate Hartney was welcomed as a new member. The Commission noted one vacancy remains.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, everybody, we're gonna call this meeting in the city of Alentown Planning Commission order. Like to first uh welcome our newest member, Kate Hartney. Kate, thank you for uh your interest in serving this commission. Uh we welcome you aboard. We can maybe do some more introductions after the meeting and and get to know each other a little bit, but thank you. Um the first item on our agenda is the approval of the minutes of the January 13th meeting. Uh the minutes have been prepared and circulated. Is anybody have any comments or corrections about the minutes? All right, hearing none of those will stand approved as written. We'll go right into our next item, which is an extension request for Central Park uh Central Park Apartments. Melissa's gonna give us an introduction. Take it away, Melissa. Thank you. Okay, so this is a request for an extension of time for one year to February 13th, 2027, within which the applicant must record plans and enter into a land development agreement with the city on the proposed 12 building 126 unit apartment complex at 605 Winetta Street, known as Central Park Apartments. In the letter requesting the extension, the applicant cited the need to coordinate the proposed extension and relocation of Wineta Street with City Center Investment Corporations, proposed North Ridge development, which is immediately to the west of this property. Central Park Departments and its engineer, Paul McNamar over two, have been working with city staff on the proposed plan revisions and intend to submit an amended plan approximately beginning of February. The project calls for land clearing and grading, construction of Northwineta Street, construction of 12 apartment buildings containing 126 dwelling units, parking for residents and visitors, landscaping, lighting, and stormwater management. The project was was reviewed favorably as a sketch plan in December 2020. Conditional preliminary approval was granted in March of 2021. Final conditional approval was granted on March 8th, 2021. An extension of time was granted to February 13, 2026, and the current request is for a one-year extension to February 13th of 2027. The project is still within the five-year timeline now provided for completion on land development within the updated SODO. And that will go through June 25th of 2026. The project has completed some required activities. Other steps are still in progress, including sewer planning, drainage review by LBPC, traffic impact study revisions and review by the city, approvals from all the city review units, LDA, financial security, and recording of plans. Staff does not object to this extension. All right, thanks, Melissa. Um is there representation? Please come forward. Um I spoke with uh the engineer on the way here. Um hopefully in the next couple weeks we'll be submitting. So I just I think it expires tomorrow or this week. So just wanted to get that in. All right. Um I guess I got a question for staff. Um if I'm following this correctly, so the the original timeline relative to final plan approval was in 2021. Um was granting another year gonna stay within the five-year window. I'm confused. So we're we're still within the five-year window until June 25th to 26th. June for the next four months. We're still within the window. I don't know that that's Mr. Brown's question though. Yeah, I mean, you know, I so look, I've got no, I've got really, you know, sort of no problem with it with granting this, but I think we've been in recent um similar requests. We've been basing everything or judging it against this new five-year window that we've aligned ourselves with the MPC. And I just I I guess I don't know. This this this whole milestone summary just kind of confuses me. Um, where I look at received preliminary plan approval in August 21, submitted final plan approval. Submitted final plan April of 2021. Is that a typo submitted received conditional approval on final plan?
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