Upper Nazareth Township Meetings

Upper Nazareth Township Planning Commission Meeting – September 10, 2026

NEW BUSINESS

Nazareth DAO and Athletic Fields Preliminary Plan – Compliance Review

NASD representatives Julie Wagner-Burkhart, Justin Massie and Sandy Koza presented a plan for the land on the corner of East Lawn Road and Friedenstahl Avenue (previously known as the Calandra property).  Julie Burkart said the District plans to complete the project in phases. NASD is proposing softball and baseball fields on the site, which means they’d mostly be used in the Spring.

The NASD Engineer said the tract would be designed to be complimentary to the current campus. Zoning issues to be considered include trees, signage and traffic analysis. He is working on the sewer issue.

Disagreements relating to traffic were discussed including how far apart the driveway on the west side of Friedenstahl Avenue should be from Christman Road entrance. NASD had it at 30’, Carrol Engineering said it should be closer to 200’. Sandy Koza said they had done a limited traffic and parking study on Friedenstahl between 2 and 6 PM and during the Middle School drop-off and pick up times. They could not do it over the summer when school was not in session.

NASD wants deferrals for curbing and sidewalks along the west side of Friedenstahl Ave and on East Lawn and also the requirement to widen Friedenstahl. Scott Sylvainus pointed out that the district had to widen Friedenstahl Ave when they built the Middle School. A couple of the board members said they expected the project to be fully sidewalked with drainage as they want UNT to be a more walkable community.

In regards to the township’s request for more Karst geotechnical investigations, the district engineer said they didn’t want to do another set of borings or to use ground-penetrating radar. The township engineer pointed out that there is a fault line which runs across the property. Commissioner Robert Williams told him that NASD will have to budget for sinkhole repairs. Other commissioners asked if the district planned on installing artificial turf which can be a bad choice for land with Karst issues. Concerns about detention/retention pond were also expressed.

Pam Berlew recommended that Newport Ave be extended down to Mitchell Avenue to alleviate the traffic.

Becky Bartlett covers these meetings because citizens have a right to know what their government is doing.