By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The township Zoning Board of Adjustment gave the green light for an application to construct an automobile repair garage on a vacant lot at 4024 Quakerbridge Road at its first meeting of the year last week.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment also swore in three members Stephen Brame, Peter Kremer and Frank Scangarella and elected its officers for 2013 at its reorganization meeting Jan. 16. Mr. Brame was elected chairman and Mr. Kremer was elected vice chairman.
The board then turned its attention to applicant Mazhar Paroya, who sought a conditional use variance and site plan approval to construct a 4,526-square-foot building on an oversized lot at 4024 Quakerbridge Road. The lot is zoned Neighborhood Commercial 2.
The township’s Land Use Ordinance permits automobile repair garages in the NC-2 zone on a maximum lot size of 22,500 square feet. The lot that was proposed for the repair garage is 29,999 square feet, and that’s why conditional use approval was needed.
Surveyor Ted Pivovarnick walked the zoning board through the application and site plan. He told the board that there would be 17 parking spaces at the rear of the building, which would be landscaped to screen the view of the building from the adjacent Lawrence Square Village development.
Architect Peter Wasem told the board that one large garage bay door would be visible from the street. Another garage door would be located at the rear of the building. The mechanic would drive the car into the garage through the rear bay door, and out through the front bay door when the work has been completed.
Inside, the building would have four service bays, Mr. Wasem said. There would be some space set aside to store parts for the cars. The building would feature fiber-cement siding that looks like wood, a metal roof and skylights. Solar panels would also be installed on the roof.
Planner Jim Kyle also told the zoning board that his client’s project had been designed for a 22,500-square-foot lot, although the lot is about 7,000 square feet larger than the maximum lot size for a repair garage.
”We feel strongly that the site remains suitable for the (proposed) use. We are not increasing the size of the building, based on the lot size. Essentially, we could take the extra lot area and give it away (and be compliant with the zoning requirements),” Mr. Kyle said.
Mr. Kyle said his client has reduced the number of service bays from six to four, which reduces the intensity of the use. The additional 7,000 square feet of land is being used to intensify the buffering between the property and the adjacent residential development, he added.
Attorney Joseph Mooney, who represented neighboring property owner K&D Quakerbridge Realty LLC, said his client objected to the proposed conditional use variance. He said the plans had changed “dramatically” since his client received notice of the request for a conditional use variance.
Mr. Mooney suggested that the zoning board should wait one month to approve the site plan. He said he would like his own experts to review the site plan. While the applicant has promised to make some changes to the site plan, “they should come back with a plan that shows compliance, not promises,” he added.
When Mr. Brame, the zoning board chairman, asked Mr. Mooney if he would “have an issue” if the lot was the appropriate size, Mr. Mooney replied that if the lot were the correct size, the application would have been in front of the Planning Board instead. He said his client would not have had an issue.
