Last Thursday, when I visited Lower Saucon Township Council, I was astonished to see the biggest rabble rouser there was none other than the Lehigh Valley Partnership's very own Bert Daday. In several trips to the podium, he simultaneously complimented and chided Council..Ron Angle would have been very impressed.
Daday, and a room full of Colesville Road residents, were there to object to a new development called "Old Saucon." Everything in that gated community, except for a driveway to a proposed bank and restaurant, is located in Upper Saucon Township. So the Township waived the usual subdivision process.
That drove Daday nUtZ.
"Do we really need another restaurant?" he asked, prompting several Council members to remind him that the proposed restaurant is in another frickin' townshiip.
"You're advocating irresponsibility!" he thundered, arguing that a driveway from Colesville Road would increase traffic along Colesville Road and end the world as we know it.
Then, in his deepest baritone, he basically called council a bunch of crooks. "There must be some reason why this Council is so willing to accommodate this development."
Yeah, Bert. It's in another frickin' Township. Go call them a bunch of crooks.
Council was very nice to Daday, by the way.
Daday has a point. But he needs to take his argument to the other municipality, or to court.
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Any person owning land that abuts or is within 100 ft of property, who is aggrieved by any decision of a board, may appeal to the superior court for the judicial district in which the municipality is located. In determining whether plaintiffs were within the zone of interests protected by the statute, and thus had standing to make a claim, the court analyzed the doctrine of extraterritoriality. When a statute doesn’t regulate conduct outside the [jurisdiction], there is no presumption that it does not apply extraterritoriality because the reason for that presumption - that [jurisdictions] have limited power to regulate conduct outside their territorial jurisdiction- does not apply. Since it could not be assumed that the legislature intended to encompass persons outside the territorial jurisdiction simply because of the phrase “any person,” the court looked to the public policy underlying the statute, which authorized municipalities to adopt planning regulations to “promote the general welfare and prosperity of its people.” There would be no reason the legislature, by authorizing landowners in near proximity to subject land to enforce compliance, would intend to exempt land owners whose properties were in locations facing the greatest and most immediate effect of a proposed development because they were in another [jurisdiction]. The court concluded that allowing landowners in other [jurisdictions] to challenge a proposed project would protect the interests of a municipality and its citizens and harmonious development and in public health and safety, and would not benefit them at the expense of those in the municipality. Therefore, the plaintiffs did have standing to bring a claim ... because they were within the zone of interest the regulation was designed to protect.
This is why people don't take the partnership or the local business types serious. Old gladhanding Bert Daday, who can barely remember what nation he is in is still working as a professional glad hander. PPL finally dumped his ass and the Partnership picked him up?? Really?
ReplyDeleteAnd you want us to believe you guys about the Health Department sand other matters. Keep taking care of each other like Daday and Iannelli in your club and leave us taxpayers alone.
I think the Old Saucon plan is refreshing change of pace in the development community. A traditional neighborhood design with small lots, and distinctively designed homes set close to the street with real front porches and a pedestrian oriented central commercial zone and lots of open space preservation to boot. The Lower Saucon complainers should be cheering.
ReplyDeleteI think they like the residential part. It is only the commercial aspect that bothers them.
ReplyDeleteBert Daday was a man who always had the best interest of the communities at heart. Okay, so now he's slipping a little. Let's hope you still have the abilities Physical and mental to aggravate your community leaders when you're ninety years old. God Bless you Bert. You may be off course a little but we love you.
ReplyDeleteHey, far be it from me to condemn a guy for tweaking the noses of local officials.
ReplyDeleteBert is about Bert. Give us a break.
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