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Spitzer Acura seeks rear parking expansion and service bays; planning commission tables plan pending zoning variance
Summary
Spitzer Acura proposed a 3,745 sq ft rear service addition and 24 new parking spaces during the July 9 Planning Commission meeting; staff recommended tabling because the plan does not meet the required 25-foot commercial-to-residential buffer and the applicant will seek a variance at the Aug. 18 zoning hearing board.
On July 9, 2026, the Peters Township Planning Commission heard a proposal from Spitzer Acura to expand rear parking and add a 3,745-square-foot service addition that would create five new service bays and an estimated "6 or 7" new jobs, the applicant said.
Garrett, a township planner presenting the project, told the commission the site is zoned general commercial but backs up to low-density residential and that the applicant’s latest proposal shows a roughly 15-foot setback between the new parking and the property line. Staff advised that the ordinance requires a 25-foot commercial-to-residential buffer and recommended tabling the application because the setback conflict and several engineering items remain unresolved, including stormwater details, utility-line notation and a required cross-access easement.
Kathy Shuster, Spitzer’s director of real estate, said the dealership has lowered lighting levels in the photometric study and will "only take trees down where we're gonna pave," adding the expansion would allow the company to "add 5 new service bays" and "probably add an additional 6 or 7 jobs." She said the team is open to relocating parking to the front of the property if setbacks allow.
Neighbors said the proposed rear parking would reduce privacy, remove mature trees and increase light and noise for adjacent homes. Jamie Koenig, speaking for her parents at 302 Grandview, said the back slope has "0 of anything of growth here because all the trees are dead," and warned the loss of even sparse tree cover would expose elderly residents to ongoing noise and light. Several residents urged the applicant to consider moving the parking forward.
Commissioners and staff explained that the Zoning Hearing Board, which is a quasi-judicial body, will hear the variance request and that the planning commission can submit comments but cannot approve an apparently noncompliant plan without the variance. The commission voted to table the Spitzer Acura land-development plan pending the zoning-hearing-board decision, which staff said is scheduled for Aug. 18; the item is expected to return to the planning commission in September depending on that outcome.
The tabling motion was made by a commissioner and seconded; the commission approved it by voice vote.
Next steps: the applicant will pursue a variance at the Aug. 18 zoning hearing board and return to the planning commission after that proceeding.
