New Kensington planners recommend changing Carl Avenue house to commercial use

While a New Kensington property owner wants to provide space for more small business near Tarentum Bridge Road, city planning officials want to draw a firm line between commercial and residential areas.

Jack Bellone wants to change the zoning of a house between Tarentum Bridge Road and 759 Carl Ave. he owns just off Tarentum Bridge Road, which is a busy commercial corridor and home to several national chains. Bellone wants the house rezoned from single-family residential to general commercial.

It’s next to two commercial properties Bellone also owns that house Thomas Tours and a cellphone store. O’Reilly Auto Parts is across Carl Avenue.

Bellone also owns a parcel across Tarentum Bridge Road that’s home to Cabrileo’s Gourmet Coffee, a drive-thru coffee shop, and the Robert Robinson State Farm insurance office.

The five-member New Kensington Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously recommended approval of the zoning change.

The final decision will rest with city council, which will have to hold a public hearing on it, said Tony Males, the city’s engineer and zoning officer. That might not happen until April.

No residents appeared at the planning commission’s meeting. Council will have to advertise its hearing, post the property and send letters to all property owners within 300 feet, Males said.

Bellone said he has no commercial tenant lined up for the house, which he has owned for about eight years.

Nobody is living in the house, and Bellone said he’d rather use it for a small business, such as an insurance agent, attorney or hair salon.

Asked about parking for the building, Bellone said there is ample space in a lot located behind his other Carl Avenue buildings.

While commission member Garry Garrison said he has no problem with Bellone’s request, he said the city should protect the adjoining residential area.

“We have a responsibility to do our due diligence,” Garrison said. “There has to be a place where it stops.”

Changing the zoning of Bellone’s lot would line up geographically with the commercial property for O’Reilly Auto Parts across Carl Avenue, commission member Marvin Birner said.

In 2018, city council approved changing the zoning of a parcel at 754 Carl Ave., now part of the auto parts store’s site, from residential to commercial.

Residents concerned about increased traffic opposed it at the time.

But, since the store’s opening, commission Chairman Richard Bruni and Males said, they are not aware of any problems or complaints about the store.

Bruni suggested the property now up for rezoning could serve as a “Mason-Dixon” line, or firm boundary, between the commercial and residential areas. He noted the commission held firm on extending commercial uses into residential areas by refusing to allow residential properties uphill from Taco Bell on Freeport Road to be changed to commercial.

Looking forward, Birner suggested the three parcels Bellone owns on Carl Avenue could be perfect for development if they were joined together.

Bellone said he does not have any such plans but didn’t rule out the possibility.