Zoners Approve Ticket Booths for Moravian College

The Bethlehem Zoning Hearing board approved three dimensional variances Tuesday night, one for the construction of tickets booths at ’s Steel Field at 34 E. Elizabeth Ave., and the others for residential properties.

The college was seeking a variance from the required front yard setback of 20 feet to a proposed zero setback. Keith Lawler of Keystone Consulting Engineers said the proposed concrete booths, 10 feet high and 5 feet by 8 feet, with sloping roofs, would be similar to those at , also along Elizabeth Avenue. The booths would be used solely for ticket sales to football games, and no electrical or other facilities will be included, he said. 

Kimberly Sherr, Moravian’s assistant director for planning and project management, noted the college currently sets up card tables to sell game tickets. The new booths would facilitate ticket purchases outside the gate and would increase security for sorority members who sell tickets, she said. The board gave unanimous approval.

Property owners bordering 270 Flagstone Drive cited privacy issues in protesting an appeal for a dimensional variance for construction of a second-floor deck on a house. 

Susan Hoffmeier, who sought a variance to the rear setback requirements from 35 feet to a proposed 28 feet, said she wants to upgrade the property with a second-floor deck that would be near kitchen and dining areas. She noted that two adjacent houses have decks.

Neighbors at 255 and 257 Buckingham Drive, south of the Flagstone Drive property, said that because Hoffmeier’s dwelling sits 5 feet higher than other properties, a second-floor deck would encroach on their privacy.

Christopher and Barbara Stella, executors of the 255 Buckingham Drive estate, pointed out that three bedroom windows of the dwelling would be in direct sightline of the deck.  Christopher Stella argued that a conforming structure could be built easily on the ground level, and “a two-story deck with sightlines to our windows would be a hardship.” 

The board voted three to one to grant the variance with the conditions that the deck not be permanent living space and not have a roof.

Zoners also approved unanimously an appeal by Subhash and Anjali Vaidya for a dimensional variance to the rear setback requirement of 40 feet to 29 feet to construct a 16 by 52 foot addition to a single family dwelling at 370 Sheridan Circle. There was no opposition to the proposal.

Mickey Thompson, counsel for the zoning board, noted that the city’s new zoning ordinance, advertised June 15, has no impact the three appeals and therefore the board could act on them at the Tuesday meeting.