The latest in a series of posts on the Southside
This was Gadfly’s kind of meeting on the future of the Southside historical district last night.
40+ people giving ideas.
That felt like a real tonic in this period of destructive politics and pandemic.
(And speaking of such, Gadfly reported the Lehigh University spike yesterday. The news today is that Lehigh has gone totally online in reaction. Sigh.)
Upbeat. Looking to the future.
Gadfly is not sure of the genesis of the study.
But you may remember as he does the poignant letter from the South Bethlehem Historical Society worrying about heritage-damaging development in the Southside.
And Gadfly has reported in the past several times of “conversations” between Councilpeople Negron and Callahan on their different visions of the Southside.
But recently we have seen action on the student housing problem around Lehigh.
And now this.
Good news.
Gadfly will report on some of the discussion, but, for now, he’ll just mention a few things that he heard that float to the surface: there is a discrepancy between Zoning regs and the Historical Commission guidelines, a 14-story building would be allowed under current regs, the Historical Commission guidelines are “shoulds” not “shalls,” Litzenberger and Rooney buildings grandfathered in not license for other tall buildings, AutoZone proposed for 5 Points.
Ugh.
Work to be done.
