East Allen zoners approve used car sales at old Timberline Inn — despite disapproval from supervisors

In the judgment of East Allen Township’s Zoning Hearing Board, used car sales will be less disruptive for neighbors of the former Timberline Inn than a restaurant/banquet hall, and a better reuse of the property.

Zoners voted 3-2 Tuesday to grant a special exception to change the property from one nonconforming use to another.

The vote came as township supervisors voiced their objection to the reuse through their solicitor, Joseph Piperato III, who argued property owner Pennsylvania Venture Capital failed to meet the burden of proof for a special exception.

The zoners decided repurposing the vacant building at 7191 Beth-Bath Pike as a used car dealership open six days a week is more palatable than a dining facility that could be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Board members Christopher Cruz and Derek Murrow voted no.

“It’s a big change in the appearance; to me that’s a big strike against it,” Murrow said.

Pennsylvania Venture Capital, which purchased the Timberline Inn last February, plans to lease the building to Caulfield’s Family Auto Sales, Nazareth, said Mickey Thompson, chief operating officer and legal counsel.

An existing liquor license was also included in the sale and is being held in escrow, he said.

The approval allows Caulfield’s to expand to a second location, owner Jeffrey Caulfield told the board.

“We’re limited in space and want to branch out,” he said.

It came with the condition that hours of operation be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, with no more than four employees working at any one time and that inventory be limited to a maximum of 50 vehicles on the lot.

The board also imposed several conditions made by the township Planning Commission as part of its recommendation of approval last month, including that no repair, body work or detailing be done and that storage of hazardous materials be prohibited.

Barriers must be established along the frontage of Route 512 to prevent pedestrians or vehicles from entering or exiting, and bumpers be placed to direct all traffic in and out of the site to the single driveway entrance.

The kitchen left over from the banquet hall cannot be used, signs must be placed prohibiting parking along Route 512 and Locust Road, and two rental units on the second floor must have exclusive use of the parking garage and be connected to the alarm system for the sales office.

Whitehall-based Pennsylvania Venture Capital, owned by developer Abe Atiyeh, must still come back to the Planning Commission for site-plan review, Thompson said.

To win approval, the applicant had to show that changing the nonconforming use to a car lot is less intensive than the present nonconforming use as a restaurant.

Piperato, representing township supervisors in opposition to the reuse, argued the burden hadn’t been met because the previous owners of the property weren’t on hand to testify.

“None of it is first-hand,” he said of Thompson’s testimony.

He also said Thompson’s assertion that Pennsylvania Venture Capital could operate the property as a restaurant 24/7 doesn’t hold because it would amount to expanding a nonconforming use.

Thompson said a bar/restaurant would be open late into the night and attract more visitors than a used car lot and would operate seven days a week; state law prohibits car sales on Sundays.

“We’re coming into the community with something that is less burdensome,” he said.

Inventory will be driven individually to the site from the Nazareth location and not transported by truck, Caulfield said.

Sales at his Nazareth location average between 30 to 50 vehicles per month, he said.