A Long Island developer came before Jim Thorpe Borough Council on Thursday with a proposal to build 16 to 20 Victorian-style affordable homes paired with caboose-shaped 3D printing manufacturing hubs.

Van Camberis, president of Merchant Victorian Homes of Massapequa, New York, pitched the idea, which leans on Jim Thorpe’s railroad heritage as both its visual identity and its economic engine. The caboose structures, each around 290 square feet, would house 3D printers that residents could use to produce and sell goods.

Camberis said he has partnered with 3D Systems, the company credited with inventing 3D printing, to supply the technology.

“The caboose would be used as a light manufacturing hub,” Camberis said.

The economic argument behind 3D printing as a job creator, he said, is directly tied to automation displacing traditional workers.

“AI is going to displace a lot of workers,” Camberis said. “3D printing is the answer for young people who need jobs.”

Council President Connor Rodgers noted the borough owns no land it could offer for the project.

Council agreed to refer the proposal to the borough’s planning commission for review.

Jim Thorpe, Camberis said, would be the test case for a national rollout.

“There are over 600 railroad towns in the United States,” Camberis said. “Jim Thorpe would be the pilot. We would then take this concept to those towns.”

From a zoning standpoint, Camberis said the concept fits within the borough’s existing cluster housing provisions — with one exception. The cluster housing section of the zoning ordinance contains a 55-plus age restriction that would need to be removed to allow general-population workforce housing.

“I’m not asking for money,” Camberis said. “I’m just asking for your endorsement of the concept so I can approach property owners.”