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Falls Township grants Waste Gas permission to expand parking and raise impervious coverage to 75%
Summary
The Falls Township Zoning Hearing Board approved variances allowing Waste Gas Fabricating Co. to increase impervious surface coverage to 75% and to place parking up to 15 feet into the property's ultimate right‑of‑way to add employee spaces, subject to any required PennDOT approvals.
The Falls Township Zoning Hearing Board on March 11 approved variances requested by Waste Gas Fabricating Company to expand employee parking and increase impervious surface coverage to 75%.
Kyle Cloman, chairman and CEO of Waste Gas Fabricating Company, told the board the company employs about 123 owner‑employees and has worked three shifts from its fully built‑out building. "We're fully built out on our property right now — we're about 105,000 total — and our parking just is not big enough for what we need," Cloman said, explaining the request to reconfigure and expand the lot.
Rachel Butch, the design engineer for the applicant, described the site changes and said the plan adds a small number of parking spaces and new impervious area along the Newbold Road frontage. "We're asking to increase the impervious from 70 to 75% and to put the parking 15 ft into the ultimate right-of-way," she told the board, and explained the ultimate right‑of‑way is 100 feet while the deeded (legal) right‑of‑way where the property is currently deeded is 33 feet.
Board members pressed the applicant on stormwater and site impacts; the applicant said existing stormwater management is located away from the proposed strip and that drainage and lighting patterns would remain unchanged. The board also discussed whether work in the state right‑of‑way would require PennDOT approval and included a condition that the applicant obtain PennDOT approvals if the proposed parking is within PennDOT jurisdiction.
After discussion, the board voted to grant the variances with the condition regarding PennDOT approvals, and the solicitor said the applicant would receive a written decision. The vote was recorded in the public record as unanimous.
The decision allows Waste Gas to restripe and expand its lot as presented at the hearing; the township solicitor will issue the written decision listing any conditions and next steps.
