Murrysville planning commission recommends council approve conditional use to convert hardware store to karate studio

The Murrysville Planning Commission voted Nov. 12 to forward a conditional-use application for tax parcel 4915100004 on William Penn Highway to the borough council with a recommendation to approve.

The application, presented by applicant James Fox, proposes converting the former Myers hardware into a mixed use building with a karate studio occupying one unit and a chiropractor (identified as Gallagher in the application) in the other. Fox told the commission, “We’re gonna turn the old Myers hardware into a karate school,” and said the project would include interior remodeling, storage and a small rear garage area.

Planning staff told commissioners the chiropractor use is a permitted professional use under current zoning and that a parking study submitted with the preliminary site plan shows adequate parking for the mixed use. Staff and the applicant confirmed the site requires 27 parking spaces and that the applicant provides 36. Planning staff summarized the item as “a pretty straightforward item” and raised no other objections.

Commissioners and staff discussed landscaping at the front and sides of the parcel. The applicant said there are natural streams along both sides of the lot and described two large landscaped beds behind the building; a commissioner advised the applicant to request a side-yard landscaping waiver to avoid work in the stream buffers. The commission’s recommendation to council explicitly included a waiver to the side-yard landscaping.

During discussion the applicant said he intends to build about a 1,000-square-foot storage/garage in the rear but has not yet submitted permits; commissioners noted no exterior expansion is proposed beyond remodeling at this time. Staff also reported the nearby Summer Hill project received council approval for initial earthwork but still must obtain an NPDS permit (as stated in the meeting) and has not submitted planning modules to the sewage authority for later land-development approvals.

A commissioner moved to forward the conditional-use application (CU 424) to council with a recommendation for approval and to include the requested side-yard landscaping waiver; another member seconded the motion and the commission voted in favor. The commission also approved routine minutes from its Oct. 8 meeting and then adjourned.

Next steps: the conditional-use application and the commission’s recommendation will be before the borough council, which will take the final action on the application and any waivers.