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Allentown zoning board approves warehouse use for 839 South Front Street with loading and code conditions
Summary
The zoning board granted an interpretation/use variance allowing Patrick Hoops to operate a warehouse at 839 South Front Street, relying on a 2003 approval and adding conditions that limit outdoor storage, require loading/unloading on-site or inside the building, and require compliance with city codes.
The Allentown Zoning Hearing Board on Dec. 1 approved relief allowing a warehouse use at 839 South Front Street, finding the building’s configuration and a prior 2003 board decision supported the requested use and imposing conditions to limit neighborhood impacts.
Naomi Centrella, attorney for the applicant, said her client, Patrick Hoops, is the equitable owner through HRH Properties LLC and seeks either an interpretation that the 2003 approval continues to allow warehouse use or, in the alternative, a use variance. Centrella presented an agreement of sale and a denial letter from the city dated Sept. 10, 2025. Hoops testified he purchased the property to operate a two‑level warehouse, that all storage would be indoors and that he planned only maintenance and repairs to the exterior.
Hoops described likely operations: primarily pickup and medium‑duty trucks rather than tractor‑trailers, and an estimate of about six daily in/out trips ("Approximately 6, 7 a day. 8 maybe at the most.") He also confirmed there would be no outside storage, that parking would be provided on-site, and that he would comply with applicable code requirements.
Board members discussed whether the issue was abandonment of a prior use or properly treated as a variance. Several members noted the 2003 decision granted a variance for office and warehouse use subject to conditions and concluded the present facts were not materially different. A board member proposing approval said he saw "nothing or hear anything in the testimony" that would require a different decision from 2003 and suggested applying the prior conditions while adding a targeted new restriction to protect the alley.
The board approved the relief as a use variance, requiring that the applicant comply with the conditions recorded in the 2003 decision (as applicable), perform all loading and unloading inside the building or on-site so as not to block the alley, and complete improvements and renovations in accordance with city codes. The board also discussed re‑review by the zoning office if the applicant later sublets the space to an unspecified user.
The applicant’s evidence included a redacted agreement of sale, the city denial letter (Sept. 10, 2025), and a copy of the board’s 2003 decision. The applicant stressed that the building is currently fitted for industrial/warehouse use and that proposed operations would be low impact relative to the neighborhood.
The board voted in favor of the motion to approve the variance and apply conditions. Next steps for the applicant include satisfying any permitting requirements and paying required fees and waivers recorded when the continuance/appeals were handled earlier in the evening.
Why it matters: the decision lets a locally based business restore an industrial use in a medium‑density residential district while the board attempted to limit potential impacts on nearby houses by restricting outdoor storage and alley operations.
