Zoning board denies plan for convenience store at 4446 N. 13th St.

The Allentown City Zoning Hearing Board on Jan. 13, 2025, voted to deny an application to convert the first-floor commercial space at 4446 North 13th Street into a retail convenience store, finding a use variance would be required in addition to dimensional relief for parking and interior square footage.

Board members heard testimony from the property’s managing member, V. Ausubel, and from the prospective tenant, Adil Al Mahmoudi. Ausubel said the owner acquired the building in 2019, that a church tenant was later evicted for nonpayment of rent, and that the owner had marketed the space for several years before the current lease. He testified the building covers the entire lot (county records show a lot roughly 33 by 120 feet) and estimated the first-floor commercial unit at about 1,000 square feet. Ausubel said the property has no off-street parking and that reconfiguring the building to provide parking was not feasible because the structure covers the parcel.

Adil Al Mahmoudi, who said he would operate the business, described the proposed use as a neighborhood convenience store selling items such as candy and cigarettes and said it would be a “pay and go” operation with no on-site seating and proposed hours roughly between early morning and 9–10 p.m. Ausubel said the owner made electrical repairs this year to create a separate commercial panel and that the meter was installed in October 2024.

Board discussion focused on how the Allentown zoning ordinance’s RH (high-density residential) district and the Annex K dimensional rules apply to ground-floor retail in that district. The board concluded that permissibility in the RH table is conditioned on meeting Annex K’s dimensional and parking thresholds, making this effectively a use-variance question rather than a straight dimensional variance. On that basis the board first voted to interpret the code as requiring a use variance and then voted to deny the application for conversion to a convenience store. Vote tally on the final motion: yes 2, no 1.

Actions taken: the board recorded (1) an interpretation that a use variance is required for the proposed convenience-store use at 4446 North 13th Street, and (2) denial of the application to convert the vacant commercial space into a retail convenience store. The board did not adopt conditions or direct staff to prepare alternative approvals; it denied the application as presented.

The applicant’s next steps were not specified on the record. The denial leaves in place the board’s interpretation that a use variance is required before the store could be permitted in this location under the current ordinance.