A proposed hospital in Franklin Township continues to gain steam.

Supervisors on Tuesday reviewed St. Luke’s Hospital’s preliminary/final land development plans.

As part of their review, supervisors unanimously agreed to grant St. Luke’s four waivers from the following requirements:

• A low-flow concrete channel in the stormwater management basin. The proposed basins on-site are being used as infiltration basins, per Department of Environmental Protection requirements to promote groundwater recharge, and a low-flow channel will negate the infiltrating effects of the basins.

• The maximum storage time within the basin being 24 hours. The proposed basins on-site are being used as infiltration basins. The infiltration rate in the basins will be amended to promote an infiltration rate that can take up to 72 hours per DEP requirement.

• The minimum grade inside basins being 1 percent. The proposed basins on-site are being used as infiltration basins. The infiltration elevation at the basin bottom is designed with no slope to promote uniform infiltration across the entire infiltration area.

• The maximum scale size of 1 inch to 100 feet for a sheet. The sheet is intended to be prepared at 1 inch = 150 feet to encompass the entirety of the site and nearby lots.

However, supervisors agreed to table granting conditional plan approval to St. Luke’s land development plan because they didn’t have enough time to review it, according to township secretary Brenda Neeb.

Neeb said residents William and Leanne Thomas, who reside on Reber Street, said they were concerned about the increase in traffic along Reber Street that will result from the hospital.

The couple were assured that won’t be an issue because the planning commission and engineer requested signs for how to get to the hospital, Neeb said.

The township’s planning commission on Thursday recommended conditional plan approval to St. Luke’s land development plan.

On Tuesday, the Carbon County planning commission again reviewed plans. The commission reviewed the plans in August and made no recommendations due to the number of issues that needed to be addressed.

Ivan O. Meixell Jr., county planner, said on Tuesday when reviewing the plan that the engineer acknowledged receiving the review from the commission, but did not address all areas of problems stated in the first review.

There are 21 items that need to be addressed before the commission could make a recommendation, including erosion plans, state permits and easements.

The board’s review without recommendation will be sent to Franklin Township to be included in discussion of the plans.

In October, Franklin supervisors accepted St. Luke’s land development plan’s offer to extend the township’s review time for an additional 90 days.

St. Luke’s University Health Network in the spring acquired more than 86 acres of land to build another hospital on Harrity Road.

The new hospital will be 50 feet tall and encompass 130,000 square feet on a more than 75-acre lot.

It will begin with 40 bedrooms and eventually have 80. St. Luke’s expects to employ 200 people at the new facility to start. The lot will have 535 parking spots.

It will also include an emergency room and helipad to airlift trauma patients when necessary to its main hospital in Bethlehem. The helicopter will be used only for dire situations, said Rocco Caracciolo, a division manager at the engineering firm Pennoni Associates in Bethlehem.

The plans include widening Harrity Road to include a left-hand turning lane, he said. Concerns about increased traffic were brought up by both the commissioners and a resident who lives along Reber Street.

Amy Miller contributed to this report.