Does the gentrification of South Bethlehem pit preservation against progress?

South Bethlehem view from Zest

A view of South Bethlehem from Zest Bar and Grille in a new six-story building at the corner of Third and New streets. Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.comSaed Hindash | For lehighvalleyl

South Bethlehem’s long been a neighborhood of immigrants, first drawn by the promise of good-paying jobs in the steel mill, cigar factories and silk mills that were the lifeblood of the community.

Those immigrants built working-class neighborhoods centered around ethnic churches with strong traditions and communal bonds.

Today, the face of the Southside is changing amid a growing gentrification as those with disposable income are drawn to an arts district, restaurant and burgeoning craft beer and spirits scene that’s been many years in the making. As South Bethlehem increasingly is seen as a hot place to live, developers are serving up building after building of luxury apartments, where the rents are sometimes double the going rate for nearby homes.

Some target Lehigh University students as the school aims to grow its student body by 1,000 while others are marketed at young professionals looking to get in on the resurgence of the neighborhood.

All of this has left the South Bethlehem Historical Society fearful that development may drive out the very residents that built the neighborhood’s vibrant social fabric. This led the board to write an open letter to Mayor Bob Donchez and city council members, which President Lou James read to council May 22. The letter was posted on Facebook Tuesday.

“The board of the South Bethlehem Historical Society presents this -- not to stand in the way of progress -- but to remind you of the history of South Bethlehem,” the letter reads. “We implore you to consider the economic impacts that progress has on the residents of South Bethlehem, and the changes to the character of the neighborhoods, which are still as vibrant, and diverse, as they were when many of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents made their homes here. A developer once said at a council meeting ‘...in 10 years you will not recognize South Bethlehem...’ This statement is rapidly becoming reality.”

City Councilwoman Olga Negron, one of South Bethlehem’s strongest boosters, just lived that reality. Negron raised her daughters in Southside, first living in squalid conditions in apartments at Five Points and on Third Street before eventually buying her own slice of paradise: a four-bedroom, three-bath home in a strong neighborhood. Several decades later, when Negron found herself an empty-nester with too much space she began contemplating selling her house.

“I was looking to stay in the Southside," Negron said Wednesday. “I could not afford to rent in the Southside (in an area I wanted to live)."

When she listed her home for sale this spring, Negron worried she’d only get offers from developers looking to snatch up the property. She was relieved when a nice young Latino family bought the house with the resources to give it a facelift, but Negron herself ended up moving across the Lehigh River.

“My heart will always be in the Southside,” the councilwoman, who works as a community liaison for an area law firm, said.

Mayor Bob Donchez, who is a Southside native, penned a response to the historic group June 12.

“I’m on the Southside a lot and frequent many of the businesses on the Southside,” Donchez said Wednesday. “I understand their concerns. You try to find a balance to economic development where you want to preserve history and move the city forward with economic development.”

Negron read the historical society’s letter with mixed feelings.

“It was good to hear from such an important entity in our community,” Negron said. “It was just like an echo (of my own feelings).”

James, president of the historical society, said the group hopes its letter spurs a larger conversation in city government and the community.

“Don’t forget the history that is part of South Bethlehem,” he said. “Its churches, the former businesses, the fire companies. There are buildings whose memories should be preserved in some way. There’s all these modern buildings going up and older buildings are being torn down.”

The group would like more developers to attempt historic reuses like the transformation of a prohibition-era bank into Social Still and an old firehouse into Broadway Social, which is now Revel Social, James said. He emphasized the group is not against development in Southside as it is bringing new life into the neighborhood.

“When you are putting up a modern building, remember there are historical elements of the community, of the neighborhoods that you can be taking into account when designing these buildings,” he said.

The mayor knows that it can be hard and controversial to find the right balance between preservation and economic development, but it is gratifying to see a renaissance that’s been talked about for more than 30 years finally taking shape.

“There is a process that each developer has to go through prior to the demolition, rehabilitation, construction of a particular project,” Donchez wrote in his response to the historical society. “There are various city departments, boards, authorities and commissions that assist with development in the city of Bethlehem often paying close attention to the historical nature of the site and the potential impact the development will have on neighborhoods.”

Negron questions why the city spent time developing a zoning code that promotes affordable housing and created a South Bethlehem Historic District to, in her opinion, just ignore it. She understands that over time there may be variances and tweaks to allow worthy projects, but it feels as if the city is throwing the rules out the window, especially with Dennis Benner’s new building at the corner of Third and New Streets, she said.

“If what we want to do is just create a bunch of shiny buildings," Negron said. “That is the direction you want to go? Ok, but don’t call it a historic area because it’s not.”

Several buildings were torn down to make way for the Gateway at Greenway Park, a $25 million six-story, gleaming glass building that’s brought new life to the neighborhood and plenty of opposition. When the historic commission approved the project it was conditional: the top floor was supposed to be recessed 12-feet along West Third Street and have a thin projecting roof to diminish its street-level visibility.

But when the restaurant on the top floor -- Zest Bar and Grille -- applied to the city for building permits for the restaurant, no one in the city’s building and planning department flagged its terrace design that violated those conditions. Ultimately, council voted 6-2 to override its historic board and allow Zest to complete the patio, which Negron opposed.

“Rules were set and for decades everybody has been abiding by the rules,” Negron said of the historic district. "Many times things have to be tweaked and they have been. What is happening lately, in the last few years, is outrageous, it is beyond taking a tweak to the size of a letter or a color. "

The historic society and Negron worry that this rapid redevelopment of the Southside with luxury apartments and new Lehigh University student housing is pricing long-time residents out of the area or into apartments in deplorable conditions. The group and Negron want to see proper code enforcement and slumlord landlords shut down.

In his letter, Donchez points to the Neighborhood Works revolving fund as a program that can help create affordable housing. The program provides money to rehabilitate homes in Southside in need of substantial repairs and the homes are then sold to low/moderate income, first-time homebuyers. The proceeds from the sale go back into the trust to rehabilitate more homes.

Negron said she knows of several smaller developers who are bullying residents to sell their properties to them.

“People are literally being chased out,” she said.

In the last week, Donchez came out against a developer’s project seeking to tear down several homes on First Terrace to build 40 bedrooms of Lehigh University -- the project is not affiliated with the university -- student housing. Lehigh Property Management LLC pulled the project ahead of a zoning hearing board meeting Wednesday night.

“We had to put a lot of pressure,” Negron said of the Lehigh Property Management project. “That is just wrong.”

Negron is urging the administration to push for projects to utilize a carrot written into its zoning ordinance that allows for higher density development when 10 percent or more of a project is dedicated to affordable housing.

“If you are going to build a 50 apartment building then make sure 10 percent is affordable,” Negron said. “We will allow you to build taller or higher density as long as you promise to have 10 percent affordable housing. We are not doing that. The administration is not enforcing it.”

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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