One of the great things about living in Nazareth is how we embrace the holiday season. Candlelight walking tours, nativity scenes, lights, concerts, house tours, luminaries, and many keep candles in their windows year round to celebrate. I came across an invite on Facebook about a group of residents who are going caroling on December 16 from 6:30 until 10:00 pm. They are meeting at Copiers Inc and heading out from there. You can learn more here. In advance, thanks to all of those participating for making the holiday in Nazareth something special!
Monday, December 05, 2011
Friday, December 02, 2011
Patch Birthday
Nazareth's Patch turned one yesterday, happy birthday. I know some readers who have used the site because I see their name there;-) but I'm sure others have little to no idea what Patch is. So I'll tell you a bit about it, give some opinion, and share a post from NOC's day 1 back in 2006. Well, Patch is like NOC. Actually, it is kind of exactly like what I thought could be accomplished when I first thought of it. NewsOverCoffee was going to be the brand, and communities across the country that didn't have daily newspaper coverage focused on them would post about local events. Ideally, there would be many contributors including those from groups and organizations. For this reason, it is called NewsOverCoffee: Nazareth Edition. What I learned was that most people don't want to contribute, they just want to find out what is going on, and for as much as the local markets were touted as being untapped, the reality was most local businesses for a variety of reasons, weren't interested. As such, there isn't much of a business model for placeblogging. I've written about Patch quite a bit on my personal blog. Patch is owned by AOL, and AOL is currently subsidizing the site as there are both technical and human costs, specifically, each local area has a paid editor and there are freelance fees paid. I know at least for this area, it is unsustainable. I was surprised to see three local ads today on Patch. Mostly I've seen national ads delivered locally. Patch organizes itself around a 'community' which appears to be a very loose definition and then some content is shared amongst sites. I looked at the 13 day period from November 20 to December 1 and the site published on averager four posts per day. In reviewing these posts 58% are specific to Nazareth and 42% are general or regional but not specifically about the NASD area. Long and short, readers won't be left hanging when I close show on 12/31/11, there will continue to be sources of local information. March 26, 2006 was my relaunch and on that day I made a few posts including this: "How To Use NewsOverCoffee". It has changed quite a bit from then, but with daily publications focused online and so many people connected socially, maybe the need is going away for placeblogs as people can ask, share, and get the answers they are looking for. What do you think?
Upper Nazareth Zoning Board rejects plan by developer to shrink properties at RedCliffe Estates
The Upper Nazareth Township Zoning Hearing Board Wednesday night rejected a developer's plan to build homes smaller than those approved in the RedCliffe Estates development.
Developer DeLuca Homes sought permission to build 68 new homes on 20-foot-wide lots versus 24-foot-wide ones in the development started six years ago on Westminster Way, Neville Way and Penfield Way.
DeLuca faces financial difficulties. Tom Doyle, director of land development for DeLuca, told the board no buyer has shown interest in the property in more than two years, although builder Ryan Homes expressed interest in finishing it if the lot sizes were smaller.
The board unanimously rejected the variance.
About 10 RedCliffe Estates residents raised concerns that smaller lot sizes would have resulted in lowered property values, less parking and changing the continuity of an existing development.
"My concern to the zoning board is how are these smaller homes going to affect the value of our homes?" resident Becky Palen asked. "I'm just afraid the value of my home, which I plan to sell in five years, is not going to be there."
Westminster Way resident Kevin Hoffman argued the residents had bought homes in a "planned community" and had relied on continuity.
"Everything has to be the same. How are you going to maintain that?" he asked.
Doyle said the planned community would not change and deck sizes in the development already vary. He said the same rules would continue to apply to Ryan Homes.
Westminster Way resident Teresa Montero-Newman wasn't convinced.
"We bought into this planned community and now they're changing the plan on us, they're just telling us what's in their best interest, not in our best interest," she told the board. "The minute you start building these new houses, we're done. There's no place to park."
The variance rejection was a victory for the RedCliffe Estates residents who have been battling DeLuca Homes and Rouse/Chamberlin Homes for months over flooding issues.
Doyle said following the meeting he was disappointed in the board's decision and is unsure of the next step for DeLuca Homes and RedCliffe Investors.
My advice to RedCliffe Estates: offer them a Park, you'll get your variance plus perpetual advertising.
PIAA Football Playoffs
A message from the football booster club and HS Principal Davis:
Calling All Blue Eagle Football Fans!
This Saturday, December 3, the Nazareth Area High School Blue Eagles will depart from the high school at 10:30 a.m. as they travel to Bethlehem Area School District Stadium to play in the P.I.A.A. State Playoffs at 1:00 p.m.
Please come out and support the players and cheer them on as their buses leave town!
We need as many students, alumni, family, friends and community members as possible to line both sides of E. Center Street beginning at the corner of Victory Lane and continuing all the way to the corner of Broad Street on Saturday at 10:15 a.m. in order to send them off.
Wear blue and white, make a sign, make some noise and cheer for the Blue Eagles!
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