KidsPeace Not Permitted to Expand Service to Adults

The Salisbury Township Planning Commission denied KidsPeace's request to change the zoning ordinance to allow it to offer therapy to adults at its Broadway facility.

The 1850 Broadway, is currently permitted to offer mental health services to children under 18 and their families.

Commissionerer Stephen McKitish said not only did KidsPeace already serve adults at its building on Green Street in Allentown but the township already has facilities that offer various types of mental health services for adults.

"It's not as if the need is not being filled," McKitish said.

McKitish said he was concerned the township was being asked to provide targeted zoning.

KidsPeace Business Development Director Patrick Slattery said KidsPeace wants to offer therapy to teens who "age out" of care in their system at 18 but still require therapy, and to adults in general who need therapy.

He estimated that by expanding services, KidsPeace anticipated getting a "couple hundred extra clients," although not immediately.

Commission Chairman Charles Beck was concerned about the extra traffic that would be generated on Broadway from expanded use -- traffic that has already increased from the Sands casino in Bethlehem. He criticized some of the changes KidsPeace made to the traffic flow.