NOTICE: THIS EVENING'S MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELED BECAUSE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS.
A preliminary step toward the construction of a housing project adjacent to Green Pond Marsh goes before the Bethlehem Township Commissioners on Monday evening.
The developer, Traditions of America, is asking the commissioners for a series of waivers and deferrals that would make it possible to build 229 housing units on a site adjacent to a National Audubon Society-designed Important Birding Area.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the township building off William Penn Highway.
In January the township planning commission recommended that the board of commissioners approve the waivers and deferrals that Traditions of America requested. The commissioners plan to vote on those recommendations Monday.
Meanwhile, The Morning Call reported that 17 of the 24 shareholders of the Green Pond Country Club have voted to sell the golf course for housing development if the Traditions of America project is not approved promptly.
The Traditions of America site is across Farmersville Road from the golf course. Green Pond Country Club owns the 110 acres on which the TOA project would be built. In addition, TOA has been billing its project as a "golf course community."
The deal reportedly is contingent upon TOA receiving approvals to build. The two parties have not said how much money is involved.
Green Pond Country Club needs both money and customers.
Throughout the country, the golfing industry has experienced consistent decline. The number of golfers in the United States has fallen by 24 percent since 2002. People are playing fewer rounds of golf. Fewer young people and minorities are participating, partly because of lack of interest and partly because of the high expense of the sport, according to golf industry analysts.
For the eighth consecutive year, more golf courses are closing than opening, according to the National Golf Foundation. Retailers such as Golf Galaxy and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf reported double-digit declines in sales last year.
It's against this backdrop that the Green Pond Country Club chose to act. Country Club Chairman John Daub said trying to sell a golf course is difficult in today's market, so the Club's standpoint the only alternative would be swapping golf for houses.
"It's not an ultimatum. It's just the facts," Daub told The Morning Call. "It's not a threat. It's just reality."
Most of the shareholders in the Country Club do not live in the Lehigh Valley. According to Daub, the shareholders inherited their stakes in the Country Club many years ago upon the deaths of their ancestors. The shareholders merely want a return on their investment, he said.
Daub, who lives in Arizona, plans to fly in for Monday's meeting.
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