Division of Bethlehem Township

WILLIAMS, J.,

This matter involves the authority of the Court of Common Pleas to apportion a municipality into wards in view of the provisions of article IX, §11, of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1968. Counsel have agreed to dispose of this legal issue prior to a hearing on the merits.

On April 23, 1974, a petition was filed by more than 100 freeholders of Bethlehem Township, a township of the first class, requesting the appointment of a commission to inquire into the propriety of dividing the township into wards pursuant to the provisions of The First Class Township Code of June 24, 1931,…