Bethlehem council postpones SALDO vote after residents raise alarms about demolitions, trees and flooding

City Council on Tuesday postponed final adoption of a rewrite of the city's subdivision and land development ordinance (SALDO) until its Sept. 2 meeting after residents and advisory-committee members raised questions about how the changes would affect demolitions, trees and neighborhood character.

The council's vote to delay came after more than an hour of public comment from residents worried that demolition of single-family homes to make way for multi-unit rental buildings is accelerating and harming neighborhood stability. Councilwoman Laird moved to postpone the final reading; Councilwoman Leon seconded. The motion passed unanimously, 7-0.

The SALDO rewrite is intended to bring the city's land-development rules into alignment with the city's climate action goals and other planning priorities. But several speakers said the draft left open too many discretionary standards and that developers already can use existing zoning and variance procedures to approve projects that neighbors say will overwhelm small lots.

Nicole Bancic, a school teacher and owner of a home on Eighth Avenue, described a neighboring lot where she says a developer bought a small ranch home and proposes a three-story, six-bedroom building. "This apartment building will loom over the top of us with decks on the side, and it would definitely affect our quality of living," Bancic said. She and other neighbors asked the council to enforce the sections of the zoning code that direct protection of public health and the "prevention of overcrowding of land." Bancic said the existing ranch house sits about 15 feet from her own home, measured "siding to siding."

Diana Rodriguez, a teacher and West Side resident, told council she's "terrified by the trend" of large projects replacing single-family homes and said the effect is concentrated in lower-income, racially diverse neighborhoods. Rodriguez said the city should make stronger, enforceable rules rather than offering developers options. "If that's what we're going for, we should make it a requirement," she said, arguing that developers should not be permitted to choose only voluntarily protective measures.

Speakers pressed several specific concerns: loss of mature trees, stormwater and flood risk on narrow alleyways, and the cumulative impact of dense infill on traffic and neighborhood quality of life. Bancic noted a large willow tree near her house that she said is roughly 150 years old and a designated "big tree" in Pennsylvania; both Bancic and others said new construction and proposed retaining walls could damage roots and kill mature specimens.

Several residents also urged greater transparency and easier public access to draft documents. Valerie Noonan said she could not find the existing SALDO on the city website (she reported encountering a broken link) and asked the administration to post clearer summary materials; the administration said it would fix the link and post supplemental materials.

Council and administration responses

City staff and council members said they supported the project's goals but acknowledged limitations created by state law and the municipal planning code. Planning and legal staff explained that some SALDO provisions that callers wanted to be mandatory are constrained by the Municipalities Planning Code and by how the city enforces land development matters.

Miss Collins (representing the administration on the floor) said the SALDO attempts to balance stronger environmental and design guidance with legal limits, and that parts of the draft are intentionally flexible to account for site-specific constraints. She also asked council members to put specific written questions to the planning bureau so staff could gather targeted answers ahead of the Sept. 2 meeting.

What council did

- Motion: postpone final reading of Bill 39-2025 (SALDO repeal and replacement) until the Sept. 2, 2025 council meeting. - Moved by: Councilwoman Laird. Seconded by: Councilwoman Leon. - Outcome: postponed, 7-0.

Why it matters

Council members and residents said the SALDO will guide how private development interacts with public goals: climate mitigation, tree preservation, street and sidewalk design, stormwater management and neighborhood compatibility. Residents who spoke urged the council to delay and use the extra time for additional community outreach, clearer public summaries and targeted answers from planning staff.

The administration asked council members to submit specific questions to staff so the bureau could provide precise, document-level answers ahead of the Sept. 2 reading; staff said they would do so and would repair accessibility issues with posted documents.

Provenance

- topicintro: "We've lived on Eighth Avenue in Bethlehem for over 17 years now." (block where Nicole Bancic spoke about a neighboring lot and proposed demolition). - topfinish: "I passed 7 0. 8 a is postponed until second reading will be at the 09/02/2025 city council meeting." (vote and postponement announced by the clerk).