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Council conditions Mr. Handyman parking lot permit on paving or equivalent surface
Summary
Council approved CU-1-25 to allow parking on an adjoining gravel lot at 5608 William Penn Highway but required the parking area be paved or meet the borough’s imperviousness standard; the applicant and staff had debated acceptable materials and precedent.
Murrysville Borough Council approved a conditional-use permit (CU-1-25) April 2 to allow parking on an adjoining lot for a business at 5608 William Penn Highway (tax parcel 49-15-00-0-045B) but included a staff-recommended condition that the parking surface meet the borough’s imperviousness requirements.
Attorney Brian Almeter, representing the applicant, said the gravel parking area has been used commercially for decades and that the owner wants to maintain the gravel surface and screen a roll-off dumpster with fencing and plantings. “The proposed use will be harmonious with the adjacent uses as it's been for however long it's been there,” Almeter said, noting the parcel originally contained a commercial building and the gravel area had historical use as parking.
Borough staff and several council members pushed for pavement or a surface that meets the borough’s definition of imperviousness. Staff noted Section 2-20-68 of the zoning ordinance and the borough’s stormwater definitions that count gravel parking areas as impervious unless they meet pervious-surface testing. Borough staff recommended a condition of approval requiring an impervious surface consistent with past municipal practice.
The applicant suggested alternative surfaces — including limestone fines or millings — that could produce a compacted surface similar to concrete or bituminous concrete and asked the borough to consider equivalency rather than asphalt alone. “If the applicant can meet that requirement by using millings or limestone dust or something similar…we can do that,” Almeter said.
Lisa Reaping, the applicant’s spouse and property co-owner, described the use as limited and said the business holds employee meetings every two weeks and seeks only a modest, screened parking area: “We were excited to come to Murrysville … All that we're looking to do … is to make it look nice and be able to have a place for our employees to park every once in a while,” she said.
After questions from council about ADA access, whether the lots would be consolidated and precedent in the borough, the council voted to approve CU-1-25 with staff’s paving condition. The motion passed unanimously.
