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Politics & Government

Brown-Daub Fiat Moves Closer to Start of Construction

Brown-Daub Fiat has set up shop at the Palmer Park Mall until construction on a permanent dealership in Lower Nazareth Township is completed.

Brown-Daub Fiat received conditional approval from the Planning Commission Monday night for a dealership on Hecktown Road. It will be next to the Brown-Daub Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership along Route 33.

However, site plan issues were raised by Lori Seese, the township’s zoning administrator. And Albert Kortze, the township’s engineer, had sinkhole concerns.

Approval was granted on the condition the information Seese and Kortze requested will be provided when the plan goes before the township's Board of Supervisors.

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“There’s a lot of information that we didn’t see,” Seese said. “Just make sure it’s all there for the supervisors.”

August Antol, an engineer with Liberty Engineering Inc. in Allentown, told commissioners that the dealership will be about 12,000 square feet and will include a service bay. He pointed to drawings to show where various types of parking would be, but that information was missing from the actual document.

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“We’re concerned about the number of spaces for employee parking, customer parking, etc.,” Seese said. “We want to know where all of that is on the plan.”

Seese explained that the zoning office isn’t concerned about the dealership having enough space to display the cars.

“They’ve got plenty of room [for the display area],” Seese reassured the commissioners.

In addition to parking areas not being labeled, Brown-Daub Fiat didn’t provide any information about lighting or landscaping, Seese said.

Signage information was also lacking, according to Seese, who told Antol that many companies provide that information when seeking conditional approval. Seese said signage is considered when a plan is approved -- or not -- before moving on to the Board of Supervisors.

Kortze had concerns regarding sinkholes that were discovered in the area of the current stormwater basin. In a letter to Brown-Daub Fiat, he recommended that a karst study be conducted. Antol said the study had been done and that the results would be sent to his office soon.

Karst is land or landscape that is characterized by sinkholes and is formed mostly on limestone -- something found in abundance in the Lehigh Valley.

Zachariah Cobrinik, the planners' vice chairman, told Antol that if any substantial changes are made to the plan, such as the position of the building, then the plan must come back to the commission.

While the dealership waits for construction of the new site to be completed, a at the Palmer Park Mall. The showcase displays two 2012 Fiat 500 cars next to Schuylkill Valley Sports.

The price for a two-seater Fiat is about $15,500 (base price). Fiats are back in the United States after a 27-year hiatus.

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