A voice of reason

This is a picture of what developers want to put along the river of my hometown, Easton,PA.

Easton sits smack dab along the Delaware River - so close that there have been at least three floods in the last four years.

(Original of picture at www.lafayette.edu/.../june06/easton/html)

This building would be part parking garage and bus terminal, part businesses and part condos (the upper levels). The idea is that the building would attract people to live in the downtown area - maybe people who are now working in New York City (hence the bus terminal advantage).

The problems:

1. The flood plain - that's the obvious one. I've seen this area - maybe up to the "second floor" of this fantasy - flooded.

2. There are three other condo projects in downtown - one completed and not full and two more being developed as I write - physically and on blueprints. If one is not full and two are in development, do we need a third?

3. There are already empty store fronts in the downtown. Why do we need to build more empty store fronts?

4. This is to be built behind an historic building, the Governor Wolf building, full of original marble (more on that later). The waterfront view of and from that building will be obstructed.

5. The historic riverfront of the town itself will be changed.

6. The size and weight of the building (considering that at least two floors will be parking) will necessitate the drilling of supports into what could be sand (bad) or solid rock (even worse for the marble in the Governor Wolf building).

7. The building of the project itself would more than likely change the face of the Delaware in this area and may cause further flooding south of Easton, along such areas as New Hope and Yardley.

I live in Palmer Township but as Easton goes, so goes the surrounding communities.

In my humble opinion, this project should be on hold - or better yet, stopped all together. Let's fill up the Eastonian, the Laubauch building and the Majestic condos before we build a monstrosity.

Let's cater to the historic nature of our town.

If we build it, they will come?
I don't think so.