The Planned Destruction of Easton’s Environentally Sensitive Lands
The purpose of this post is to verity the fact that Donna Taggart Associates is an integral part of the development team involved in the “taking” of private property - at least 33 such properties - in the floodplain of the Bushkill Creek Corridor between Easton, Pennsylvania’s N. 13th St. and Larry Holmes Drive to the east inclusive of much of Bushkill Drive, Snyder and N. Green streets, and Nevin Terrace.
The City of Easton acting through its Redevelopment Authority as agent is “taking” the privately owned properties - at least 33 - under the threat of eminent domain, and, in so doing, is acting on behalf of Lafayette College and its plan to develop a new urban center known as Bushkill Village beneath the precipitously steep slopes on which the main Lafayette College campus precariously teeters and in the Bushkill Creek and Delaware River floodplain.
This ambitious new urban village would compete directly with the Downtown Easton commerical district to the south and east that is still in the throes of recovering from the economic downturns beginning with the Urban Renewal of the late 1960s and 1970s and the recent floods of 2004, 2005, and 2006.
As reported in this post’s link, state and other public grants “will be used to upgrade the State Theatre’s facilities and develop a river walk and a downtown parking and bus facility. The largest project is the Bushkill Creek recreation corridor, which will connect development proposed for an old silk mill on N. 13th Street and Lafayette College’s properties on N. 3rd Street.
(To be continued)
Copyright © 2006-2008 Billy Givens
Billy Givens said,
May 13, 2007 @ 9:13 pm
Easton, Pennsylvania, is the the site of the confluence of two rivers and a tributary: the Delaware and Lehigh (originally the west branch of the Delaware River) rivers and Bushkill Creek.
So when it comes to flooding, these three streams are like the popular commercial lubricant, recognizable on the retail shelves where it’s displayed in a squeezable tin can and labeled “Three-in-One” oil.
When we have floods from the three streams, which is increasingly frequent and sever - we’ve suffered through three in as many years, starting with Hurrican Ivan in September 2004 and followed by torrential rainfall-induced floods in April 2005 and again in June 2006.
Despite the millions of dollars of property damage and lost business, Easton’s officials like its Mayor Philip B. Mitman and the city’s governing council oil up the ordinary citizenry with assurances that the flooding is no big deal as they continue to issue building permits to the developers of luxury condominiums, chic shopping boutiques, trandy restaurants, and parking garages in the Delaware and Lehgh rivers and Bushkill Creek floodplains.
Indeed, the three streams have their current parallel in three such developments: the perennial State Theatre renovations, Riverwalk, and the Bushkill Creek Corridor. Add the Majestic condominiums of the Ashley Developers of owner Lou “Hannible Lecter” Pektor and there are actually four developments currently under way, Lou’s in the Lehigh River floodplain at 175 S. 3rd Street in Downtown Easton.
And over in Easton’s sister city of Bethlehem, only nine miles west on State Route 22 or I-78, the Christmas City of the Moravians are busy building a Sands BethWorks Gaming LLC slot machine gambling casino in the city’s South Side neighborhood, on the property of the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation and in the floodplain of the Lehigh River.
Add the two planned casinos for Philadelphia on the Delaware River and the one casino planned on one of Pittsburgh’s three rivers, plus in Easton the Riverwal complex planned for the west bank of the Delaware River and the Majestic on the northern banks of the Lehigh River, it becomes inescapable that the developers have an unquenchable thirst for the cities’ most coveted properties because of their waterfront views - despite the fact that these properties are subject to frequent, severe flooding because they lie in floodplains that should remain building-free and utilized for such public-purpose uses as parks, with pervious surfaces acting as sponges for flood waters and not covered over with impervious parking lots, garages, and streets that only add to the flooding woes through storm-water runoff and flood-turgid tributaries like Bushkill Creek.
Crowell said,
May 29, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
Your posting is very much appreciated. I’m a beginner when it comes to knowledge about how development affects the land. As a Easton native, I yearn to see a more enticing, more beautiful, and safer city for my own children to grow up in. I hope that we will be able to positively influence the proper changes that need to occur along two-rivers landing, Larry Holmes drive, and along 13th street. Keep up the good work informing us on what is occurring and continue to share your thoughts about what needs to be done by Easton citizens.
Billy Givens said,
May 31, 2007 @ 1:28 am
Thank you, Crowell, for your kind comment, which, I assure you, is encouraging and greatly appreciated.