Amid an ongoing housing shortage, developer interest in Hellertown remains robust. The latest plans to come before Hellertown Borough Council include a five-story complex to be built between Clauser Street and Williams Street. Located at the borough’s north end, the area is part of the borough’s Flexible Overlay Redevelopment district, created to encourage mixed use development.
Above, an artist’s rendition shows the planned Clauser Lofts apartment and office buildings to be constructed between Clauser and Williams streets in Hellertown borough. The buildings will include approximately 60 apartments and 8,750 square feet of office space. (Credit: Borough of Hellertown)
Sketch plans for the Clauser Lofts show two five-story buildings surrounded by parking for approximately 130 vehicles and landscaping. According to the plans, there will be approximately 8,750 square feet of first-floor commercial space and 60 apartments in the Clauser Lofts, which will be located close to the Rt. 412 interchange on I-78 and several other projects that are planned.
At their meeting Tuesday, council advanced the project by voting to approve the preliminary land development plan and a borough Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO) waiver that was requested.
The plans were discussed during a recent council executive session and were previously approved by the planning commission in June 2024, according to borough solicitor Michael Corriere.
“The plan didn’t get to us until December, where at that point in time there were some concerns raised about the retention basin, and ultimately, the plan was denied,” Corriere said.
After sending the developer the denial notice and receiving additional information, Corriere said he reviewed the file with borough engineer Bryan Smith and it was recommended to put the plan back on council’s agenda.
The sketch plans presented to council included floor plans which feature separate residential and office entrances. The plans also include a gym, a multi-purpose room and a dog wash adjacent to the lobby on the first floor, residential side of the larger building.
The groundwork for the project’s approval was laid back in January 2022 when council approved a request by the developer to combine five adjacent lots along Clauser, Hemlock and Williams streets, just south of the former Champion Spark Plug factory, which was demolished last year in preparation for a medical office building to be constructed on the site. A single-family stone home on one of the lots will remain a residence, according to the plans.
A site landscaping, lighting and signage plan for the project may be viewed on the borough’s website.
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, council president Tom Rieger spoke about Hellertown’s first snow emergency in about a year, which was in response to Sunday’s snowstorm.
“It is very important for residents to sign up for our email distribution list, follow us on Facebook or please call the Hellertown Borough Authority and get your contact info. updated, because we do leverage their system for Constant Contact, which were the two phone calls that everybody received (about the snow emergency),” Rieger said.
“There is a new button this year, text message, and we clicked that button as well,” he said. “It’s there to get as much word (out) as possible, however, all three actions require you, as a resident, signing up for that.” The all-call system will automatically leave a voicemail if the call isn’t answered, he added.
During snow emergencies, vehicles must be moved from borough snow emergency routes such as Front Street, Main Street and Easton Road. Vehicles that aren’t promptly moved are subject to being towed.
Rieger explained that snow emergencies aren’t only declared when there is a forecast for a heavy snowfall.
“Roads are very small, trucks are very big,” he said. “Even to get a large salt spreader down a road where you have two cars parked on both sides, it can be difficult. It’s not just the amount of snow we’re going to get. The nature of it may require a snow emergency only to allow public works to help make the streets passable. It makes their job a little less troublesome to get everything done.”
Visit the Borough of Hellertown’s website or Facebook page to sign up for the alerts. More information about snow emergencies including a list of routes may be found on the website.
