Home Care In Wind Gap, PA

Plainfield Township is starting to get some clarity on what sewer and road improvements are needed to accomodate a plan for two warehouses totaling nearly 1 million square feet off Route 512.

CRG Services Management has proposed building two warehouses at 905 Pennsylvania Ave., also known as Route 512. The larger proposed warehouse would be 786,000 square feet with the smaller one targeted for 296,000 sqaure feet.

CRG discussed a review letter from the Plainfield Township engineer regarding the project at the Plainfield Township Planning Commission meeting Monday night.

CRG’s land development review by the commission has been tabled each month since November while the company sorted out several issues with neighboring Wind Gap.

The bulk of the development’s property is in Plainfield Township, but a private road that will go through the property extends into Wind Gap.

The private road, to be known as Industrial Drive, will access the site from Route 512 across from Waste Management’s Grand Central Landfill entrance and extend northeast to North Broadway in Wind Gap, just south of Constitution Avenue.

Alpha Road in Wind Gap will be rerouted from where it intersects with North Broadway.

Currently, Alpha Road and Constitution Avenue are about 550 feet away from each other where they intersect with North Broadway. The new Industrial Drive would intersect with North Broadway between the two existing roads.

Rather than keep the three intersections of Alpha Road, Industrial Drive and Constitution Avenue in close succession, the plan is to reroute the northern part of Alpha Road so it connects to Industrial Drive.

This plan received preliminary approval from Wind Gap Council in April by a 4-2 vote. Council members Jeff Yob, Steve Bender, Alex Cortezzo and Dave Hess voted in favor and Dave Manzo and George Hinton voted against the approval.

The developer’s plan is to build an on-site pump station and tap into Wind Gap’s sewers.

In May, the Wind Gap Sewer Authority unanimously approved issuance of a will-serve letter to CRG for its sewer needs, conditioned on Plainfield Township development approvals.

CRG’s engineer Matt Chartrand from Bohler Engineering said the developer has been working with the authority to plan how to tap into the Wind Gap sewer system and also provide improvements for existing sewer lines near the development.

“We made a commitment to fix an awful lot of sewer,” Chartrand said.

Monday, CRG discussed various issues regarding easements and rights-of-way with the planning commission.

Most of Industrial Drive will be a private road, which means the property owners will be responsible for maintenance and plowing. However, access to the road will be open to the public.

A question remains as to whether the northern part of Industrial Drive in Wind Gap, where Alpha Road will eventually intersect, will be private or dedicated to Wind Gap.

The planning commission is scheduled to continue hearing the matter at its 7 p.m. Aug. 21 meeting at the Plainfield Township Municipal Building.

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Thru-hikers refer to the Keystone state as “rocksylvania” because the trail seems paved haphazardly with jagged stones. The payoff for the occasional stubbed toe? Long, rolling views from countless outcropping and balds. Access the trail, northbound, in Wind Gap for an easy start along a gentle climb through oak and box elder, crossing the Blue Mountain Water Company Rd. at 2.1 miles. Gain 570 feet as you climb to a wooded ridge and track along it for 4.7 miles.

At mile 6.8, you’ll reach 1,620-foot Wolf Rock, a lichen-covered knob with views over a sea of white pines. On a clear day, you can spot New Jersey’s Kittatinny Ridge, whose name means “endless mountains.” In .3 mile, you’ll reach an old road. Turn right and follow it .9 mile. At mile 7.7, head left back into the woods. Walk .5 mile to Fox Gap at PA 191. The Kirkridge shelter (sleeps six) lies straight ahead at mile nine. (Pack a tent? Hike another .5 mile north to camp in an open meadow.) Spend the night listening to thru-hiker anecdotes (they’ll be blazing through en force midsummer).

The next day, hike .8 mile to Lunch Rocks and another sweeping vista. The trail turns into a gravel road at mile 11.1 and back into singletrack 1.7 miles later, where you’ll begin an easy ascent of 1,461-foot Mt. Minsi; look and listen for red-bellied woodpeckers (chuf-chuf-chuf’s alternating with br-r-r-r-t’s). A mile after the summit, the AT crosses the Lookout Rock Trail, which leads to, yes, a sweet lookout. Gaze across the Delaware River to see 1,527-foot Mt. Tammany.

Continue .1 mile through a rhododendron tunnel to Eureka Creek. Slosh across and reach Council Rock at mile 14.4. Descend .7 mile to the Lake Lenape trailhead and your shuttle car.

Gear up: Get last-minute supplies like duct tape, batteries, and fuel at Cramer’s Home Center (519 N. Broadway, Wind Gap, PA; 610-863-6064).

-Mapped by Jeff Chow

Trail Facts

Waypoints

WPT001

Location: 40.861504, -75.294952

Wind Gap: AT turns E on PA 512 under PA 33 before turning L at AT sign. and parking area

WPT002

Location: 40.913952, -75.232765

AT turns E

WPT003

Location: 40.925316, -75.221497

Rocky scramble to Wolf Rock; view to ENE

WPT004

Location: 40.928432, -75.21833

Powerline

WPT005

Location: 40.935349, -75.19677

PA 191; Fox Gap

WPT006

Location: 40.936016, -75.189819

Telephone line

WPT007

Location: 40.936218, -75.18737

Sidetrail to Kirkridge Shelter

WPT008

Location: 40.936733, -75.186432

Kirkridge Shelter – Shelter with covered cooking and sitting area.

WPT009

Location: 40.937904, -75.183144

Nelson Overlook

WPT010

Location: 40.9435, -75.177101

Lunch Rocks

WPT011

Location: 40.948383, -75.163467

Two telephone lines

WPT012

Location: 40.948448, -75.16172

Tots Gap

WPT013

Location: 40.948101, -75.16053

Radio tower

WPT014

Location: 40.958935, -75.128616

Expanisve vista just off AT of 330-mile Delaware River, farmland, and small towns of Portland, PA and Warrington, NJ

WPT015

Location: 40.959751, -75.128586

Tree-shaded summit of 1,480-foot Mt.Minsi

WPT016

Location: 40.95995, -75.1287

Old fire tower site

WPT017

Location: 40.962715, -75.126816

Lookout: View of craggy quartzite layers that hug SW side of Mt. Tammany, a.k.a. Indian head (look for profile of Chief Tammany in rock)

WPT018

Location: 40.963516, -75.12838

AT turns L

WPT019

Location: 40.963966, -75.129532

Turn R @ T with fire road

WPT020

Location: 40.965668, -75.133385

rock wall

WPT021

Location: 40.968601, -75.135468

Lookout Rock offers views of Kittatinny Ridge and Delaware River. AT turns W

WPT022

Location: 40.967716, -75.136986

Cross Eureka Creek

WPT023

Location: 40.969883, -75.137932

Bear Right

WPT024

Location: 40.974033, -75.138603

Council Rock

WPT025

Location: 40.975052, -75.13887

View of bridge over the Delaware River

WPT026

Location: 40.979084, -75.140633

Lake Lenape, named for native tribe of the Delaware Valley

WPT027

Location: 40.979885, -75.141701

Parking on Mountain Rd.

View from Lunch Rocks

Location: 40.943537, -75.176783

A new fast food franchise is lined up near the Route 33 Wind Gap exit, and should be serving up tacos, burritos and gorditas next year.

The Plainfield Township Planning Commission unanimously gave preliminary land development approval Monday for a proposed Taco Bell at 6695 Sullivan Trail.

Though the location is near the Wind Gap exit, it is in Plainfield Township at the intersection of South Broadway (Route 512) and Sullivan Trail.

Plans call for an existing building on site -- formerly the Wind Gap Professional Center -- to make way for the 2,700-square-foot restaurant.

The new eatery will be owned by Summerwood Corporation based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

Summerwood Development Manager Joe DePascale said the group owns 110 restaurants across Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley.

In addition to Taco Bell, the business' website states the group owns KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Zio Gio and Long John Silver's locations.

The proposed building will be equipped with a drive-through lane. DePascale said he estimates 60 to 65 percent of Taco Bell's business comes from drive-through customers.

Planning commission Chairman Paul Levits expressed concern that the drive-through lane would not be big enough to accommodate customers without backing up into the parking lot and potentially spilling onto the road.

Levits said he sees the drive-through lane routinely backing up at the nearby Dunkin' Donuts in Wind Gap.

"I don't think anyone wants to see another Dunkin' Donuts," Levits said.

Summerwood representatives said the drive-through lane will have room for eight vehicles and eight more could wrap around the building if needed.

DePascale said, if permitting and approvals go smoothly, demolition could begin next spring and, after 90 to 120 days of construction, the Taco Bell could be open next summer.

The project will need to meet with several conditions set by the planning commission before it gets final land development approval.

John Best is a freelance writer. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.

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Teva Pharmaceuticals has signed a lease to occupy more than half of a large warehouse in Plainfield Township just off Route 33.

The climate controlled Wind Gap Logistics Center at 1380 Jacobsburg Road will be a receiving and storage facility for medicines, according to company spokeswoman Grace Ann Arnold.

“Teva expanded its distribution center and warehouse space in Pennsylvania and identified this Wind Gap facility because of its proximity to our existing distribution center facility in North Wales,” she said in an email Friday.

Teva’s Pennsylvania expansion comes after Teva closed a distribution center in Gurnee, Illinois, and a warehouse in Antioch, Illinois, last year, Arnold said.

The Wind Gap center was built last year, according to a news release from CBRE Group. Teva signed a lease shortly after construction wrapped up to occupy 54 percent of the roughly 350,000-square-foot facility, according to CBRE.

About 20 logistics and quality-control employees will work there for Teva, Arnold said.

“These are new jobs,” she said.

CBRE brokered a deal to sell the warehouse, according to the news release Friday. The sellers were J.G. Petrucci of Hunterdon County and the Davis Group of Boston, Massachusetts. The buyer was Duke Realty of Indianapolis.

It’s unclear whether a tenant is lined up for the remaining 46 percent of space in the warehouse. Duke Realty, CRBE and Teva didn’t comment on the vacant space.

Northampton County property records say Duke bought the warehouse Jan. 11, 2019, for $41.3 million. Duke owns three warehouses just south of the Wind Gap center off Route 33 in Palmer Township:

Teva Pharmaceuticals is global leader in generic medicines, including medicines for the central nervous system, pain and respiratory illnesses, according to the CBRE news release.

Rudy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.

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The Slate Belt will soon score a new seafood spot.

American Lobster, a full-service steak and seafood restaurant with a focus on American-sourced ingredients, is expected to open in mid-February at 1420 Jacobsburg Road in Wind Gap, according to Chris Moon, the restaurant’s executive chef and general manger.

The building previously housed other restaurants, including Gaglione’s Cucina Italiana from 2016 to 2017 and J&R’s Smokehouse, which closed in 2015 after 23 years of business.

“It’s going to be classic American cuisine with a twist,” Moon said. “We’ll have a variety of seafood dishes — steamed, broiled and fried, as well as Certified Angus Beef steaks and other selections such as pastas, artisan salads and home-made desserts.”

Moon, who has been cooking professionally for about 30 years, developed the menu, which includes seafood entrees such as branzino, cajun swordfish, crab cakes, Dover sole, Faroe Island salmon, beer-battered haddock with house-cut fries and seafood paella served table-side in a hot skillet.

Customers also will be able to choose their lobsters from a live lobster tank.

For meat lovers, the restaurant will offer beef short ribs, Colorado rack of lamb, grilled pork chop and a wide array of steaks, including flat iron, hangar and New York strip as well as USDA Choice filet mignon and cowboy cuts.

“It’s a scratch kitchen, so there won’t be any frozen fish, steaks or vegetables,” said Moon, who fine-tuned his culinary skills in Los Angeles under accomplished chefs Wolfgang Puck and Russell Jackson. “Seafood will be delivered daily, and a lot of the butchering will be done on-site.”

The 210-seat American Lobster, owned by Palmerton’s Shawn Berger, will offer soups such as Jack Daniels French onion and creamed crab and roasted corn chowder, salads such as lobster and prawn avocado and grilled tomato and burrata and appetizers such as blackened beef tips, bourbon bacon, lemon pepper calamari, lobster flatbread, mini lobster rolls, mussels and chorizo and oysters Rockefeller.

A refurbished oak bar will serve wines, cocktails and beer, including nine rotating local and national draft selections.

Other improvements include new furniture, kitchen equipment, lighting, ceiling tiles, commercial-grade vinyl flooring and refurbished hardwood flooring.

The focal point of the dining room will be a newly constructed, 8-foot-long saltwater fish tank, which will hold angelfish, clownfish and other tropical marine life.

“The restaurant will be upscale casual dining,” said Moon, noting tables will be adorned with candles and white tablecloths.

American Lobster, featuring private and semi-private dining rooms, will be open seven days a week.

Exact hours are still being finalized, but the restaurant will be open for dinner service only initially, with lunch service expected to commence within a few weeks after opening, Moon said.

The restaurant will honor military veterans with “veteran-only” parking spaces.

“We’re standing behind our veterans and staying true to America in every way here,” Moon said.

The Wind Gap restaurant, which will feature a rooftop herb garden, will be one of three planned American Lobter restaurants, Moon said.

Another location is set to break ground next winter on Route 209 in Gilbert, Monroe County, while another restaurant is planned for a yet-to-be-determined location.

Follow the restaurant’s progress online at facebook.com/americanlobster.