Mike Smith was looking for more room for his auto repair business, Ar-Ken Automotive, when he moved from Constitution Boulevard to Fifth Avenue in New Kensington earlier this year.
The space accessed from the back of 649 Fifth Ave. gave him another good 500 square feet, which he said was double the size of where he had been at 940 Constitution Boulevard. He moved to the new spot in May.
“I can fit eight cars in here at one time,” he said.
But to operate an auto repair business in New Kensington’s central business district, he’ll need to get a special exception approved by the city’s Zoning Hearing Board.
The board is scheduled to hear the request when it meets at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 at city hall, 301 11th St.
The building sits next to Eazer’s Restaurant & Deli, which is at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Seventh Street.
The property is zoned commercial, but auto repairs and sales are a special exception use within the commercial area under the city’s zoning ordinance written in 1994, zoning Officer Tony Males said.
That approval should have been sought before the business opened there, Males said.
Special exception uses go through the Zoning Hearing Board for approval. If denied, the decision can be appealed to court, Males said.
Smith said he and his wife, Haleigh, of Arnold started Ar-Ken Automotive in the garage at their home in 2016 and it took off. They were at 940 Constitution Boulevard for three years.
Smith said he’s using the entire first floor at 649 Fifth Ave. He believes it had been an oil change business in the 1960s and 1970s because there’s a pit for oil changes in the floor.
Smith said the business is just him and his wife. He does mechanical and body work, and will soon begin doing inspections.
“Anything that has a motor, we’ll work on it,” he said.
Smith said he does not do any work outside. He has one lift and is looking to get another, but is waiting for prices to cool off or a good deal to come along.
Ar-Ken Automotive is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, Saturdays by appointment and closed on Sundays.
Landscape variance considered
At its Nov. 14 meeting, the Zoning Hearing Board will also consider a request from Dominic Distilo for a variance for outside landscape supply bins at 2222 Freeport Road.
The property was most recently the site of The Lab, a bar, which has closed, Males said.
Males said Distilo is planning to put a landscape supply business at the front of the building, and a contracting business in the rear.
The zoning ordinance requires all business to be conducted within the building. Males said a variance is needed for outside storage bins, which do not comply with the ordinance.
