Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board approves nail and hair salon, housing unit

Yahoo

22-05-2025

May 22—WILKES-BARRE — Applications for a new nail and beauty salon, along with more housing, were among those approved Wednesday at Wilkes-Barre's monthly Zoning Hearing Board meeting.
Ivelisse Professional Building LLC was approved for special exception to add one apartment unit to a building at 425 S. Main St., bringing the total to five apartment units, along with two retail spaces on the first floor.
Per the design plans presented at the meeting, the building will contain two one-bedroom apartments, two three-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom apartment.
The plans reflect a scaled-back version of a set previously presented to the Zoning Hearing Board, when they asked for a special exception for 9 apartment units, which was denied.
All of the apartments are unoccupied, along with one of the commercial spaces. Building owner Ivelisse De La Cruz has operated a business out of the left-hand side commercial space for last decade, where she offers service such as title and tag registration, money transfers, and home and auto insurance.
The applicant was also approved for a variance to waive six parking spaces. The building will then have 13 off-street parking spots in the back of the building instead of the usual 19.
Attorney Frank Hoegen, representing De La Cruz, said potential tenants will have reserved parking spaces.
The owner also intends to renovate the building's exterior and finish the whole outside in brick and stucco. Per city code, additional windows will also be installed for the apartment units, and the bottom floor, rear apartment, will be updated to become ADA compliant.
A variance to waive the front yard setback from 10 feet to 3 feet was approved to construct a third-floor addition to accommodate an internal stairwell. The two retail spaces on the bottom floor will be slightly reduced in size because of this.
Hoegen stated that a requested waiver of Section 1014 of the zoning ordinance — Grading, Pavement and Drainage — was no longer needed, as the owner intends to comply with the regulations. The application was amended to reflect the withdrawn variance.
Gary Druby, who owns Abe's Hot Dogs next door, expressed concern about the potential traffic the additional apartment unit would bring.
Hoegen countered this by saying that a traffic study had not been conducted and the previous four apartment units had been in existence for "a long time."
The application was eventually approved on the condition that the applicant construct a greenery strip along Sullivan Street to deter unwanted ingress or egress from the proposed parking lot.
Nail salon and beauty shop
Additionally, Caroline Suarez de Romero was approved for a special exception to change a nonconforming use from a party planner and rental business to a nail and beauty salon at 89 Lehigh St. A variance to waive two parking spaces for the proposed use was also granted.
Natalie Mejia, who served as an interpreter for Suarez de Romero, said she planned to have three chairs in the shop: one for pedicures, one for manicures, and one for hair styling.
Services would be provided by appointment only, from 9 a.m. to roughly 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
The application was approved on the condition that the applicant agree to have no more than two employees.
Board Member Leon S. Schuster moved to include the conditional approval because he felt any additional traffic would not be appropriate for a residential area.
Application withdrawn, to be resubmitted
One application on Wednesday's agenda was withdrawn by the applicant, Coal Region Realty LLC, which originally applied for a special exception to change a nonconforming use from a vacant 2,400 square foot garage and storage building located at 402-404 Park Avenue to a storage building containing a personal vehicle maintenance garage.
The property also contains four residential units.
Jared Lekowski, owner of Coal Region Realty, stated he planned to rent the storage garage to a man from New York, who would use the space to store vehicles as well as material he collects from cleaning out homes.
Several board members felt that explanation fell outside of a personal use.
"That doesn't sound like personal vehicle," said Board Chair Hayden White. "I mean, that sounds like a business that's renting out your garage."
Additionally, the potential tenant was not present for the board to ask questions.
Because of that, the board suggested Lekowski withdraw the application and submit a new one that more accurately described the proposed use. The board also suggested the tenant come to next meeting to answer questions.
Resident Gary Ankner, who owns the neighboring property, also expressed a desire to get more information from the potential tenant, as he was worried about possible noise disruptions.
Other agenda items
Three other applications were approved Wednesday, including:
—Brian Krahel for the property located within a R-1 zone at 240 Matson Avenue for variances to waive the required side yard and rear yard setbacks from the required 5 feet decreased to 3 feet respectively, to construct a shed.
—Veronica Cruz for the property located within a R-1 zone at 158 High St. for a variance to extend the width of an existing driveway from 20 feet to a total of 38 feet. Cruz initially asked for 46 feet, but agreed to 38 feet instead.
—Birdhouse Outdoor for the property located within an M-1 zone at 421 N. Pennsylvania Avenue for a variance to install three nonilluminated vinyl advertisement wall signs. The application was approved on the condition that the applicant provide an additional signature from the building owner on the zoning appeal part of the application.