Patio Furniture Outlet Green-Lit by Borough Planners

A site plan for a patio furniture warehouse and retail business proposed by  owner Andrew Panick won the unanimous approval of the Hellertown Planning Commission Oct. 11.

If Panick is successful in seeking a variance for parking from the borough's Zoning Hearing Board, the business will be located at 720 Main Street, which is behind the .

At the planning meeting Panick explained that there will be limited traffic to and from the 7,000-square-foot building, which he said will house several truckloads of patio furniture.

Customers will visit the location by "appointment only," he explained, and the furniture will be delivered during November and December.

The season for selling patio furniture lasts from April through September, so during those months trucks will pick up furniture for delivery to customers, Panick said.

However, all of the traffic should be during the daytime, he said.

"There's not going to be any noise at night or early in the morning," he stressed.

Borough Engineer Bryan Smith, of Barry Isett and Associates, told planning commission members that Panick's proposed use of the building--as a retail store--is a permitted use in the Town Center zoning district in which it is located.

No exterior changes to the one-story building are proposed, and the lot the building is located on is almost entirely covered by impervious surface, Smith said.

Panick is seeking a variance for the number of parking spaces required by the borough's zoning ordinance, he also explained.

The zoning ordinance requires 28 spaces, however only 15 spaces are available.

Planning commission member Donald Rohrbach asked which street trucks will use to access the building.

Borough Zoning and Codes Enforcement Officer Joe Chernaskey replied that they will use Harwi Street, which runs parallel to Main Street, because it will permit access to the building's loading dock.

A motion in favor of the site plan conditional upon the Zoning Hearing Board's approval of the variance being requested was approved 4-0, with commission member Phil Weber absent.

The Zoning Hearing Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 6:30pm in .