Costco Developer Agrees to Township's Terms on Crime, Parking

Even though the arrival of Costco and the $140-million Hamilton Crossings shopping center is not a sure thing, the Lower Macungie commissioners talked to the developers Thursday night as if the project is a done deal.

The commissioners said the shopping center could be built but with a couple of conditions -- the developers have to control crime and make sure no one parks at the center after hours.

The future of the Hamilton Crossings project, which will bring the Lehigh Valley its first Costco store, as well as a Whole Foods and a Target, along with 900-plus jobs, remains questionable, as the developers have stated the cannot go forward with the project without the Tax Increment Financing plan advanced this spring and summer as a means to fund the project. The Lehigh County Commissioners voted down the TIF plan in June. 

Thursday night the commissioners wanted some assurances about controlling crime in the township that could be sparked by the shopping center, with Commissioner Commissioner Jim Lancsek in particular leading the charge on behalf of township residents. Lancsek raised the issue of security during a two-hour conditional use hearing held prior to the board's regular Thursday night meeting. 

The recent attention brought to the amount of shoplifting at the Lower Macungie Walmart store on Mill Creek Road was mentioned more than once during the security discussion. Jeremy Fogel, of the Goldenberg Group, who was testifying on behalf of the developers, said that based on his team's research, Lower Macungie is not a high-crime area and he didn't anticipate any security problems.

In the end, Fogel agreed that the Board of Commissioners would be allowed to dictate the type of security measures put in place at Hamilton Crossings if crime becomes a problem at the shopping center.

Additionally, the commissioners asked the developer to agree to post "no overnight parking" signs within the shopping center, with Lancsek also prompting much of the discussion on this condition.

"Some areas of the township have become RV camps," he said, indicating that the overnight parking issue is one that he intends to address township-wide in the near future. "Do we need to wait to globally address this, or can we address it for this case?" he asked.

Fogel said that he didn't see any need for overnight parking on the part of Costco or any of the other Hamilton Crossings tenants and agreed to post the signs.

A good amount of time during the hearing was spent talking about the planned Costco gas station included as part of the project. During the public comment portion of the hearing, more than one resident addressed the commissioners about making sure the Hamilton Crossings project is visually appealing from all vantage points.

Commissioner-elect Ron Beitler spoke about the Costco gas station in particular.

"I encourage you to use Google," he said, "to look at other Costco gas stations. The design of the one here is pretty much a copy/paste (of their basic design) and there are much nicer ones.

"Look at what's been built and what's been proposed and as 'Is that what we want in Lower Macungie?'" he said.

The size of the proposed Hamilton Crossings project – 100,000 square feet – prompted the need for conditional use permits. Sara Pandl, Lower Macungie director of planning/community development repeatedly reminded the commissioners during the hearing that the developers must still go through the land development approval process to move the project forward.