Lower Nazareth Planners Approve Land Development Proposal for New Jersey Auto Restorer

After a few tweaks, Lower Nazareth planners Monday night approved the final land development plan and conditional-use permit for an antique car restoration business.

Ray's Auto Restoration is relocating to Country Club Road from New Jersey, according to Ray Mamone, owner of the 53-year-old business.

Mamone that he chose to build in Pennsylvania due to the combination of economic growth along Route 33 and because he found a property large enough to build on.

He picked five acres on Country Club Road as his new location. In addition to the main building, a garage and storage building are also planned for the parcel.

The main building will be about 31,000 square feet and will include spray-paint booths, an office area, restoration work areas and a showroom for Mamone's car collection.

The purpose of the showroom is to give customers an example of the business' work. It will display each car in chronological order -- each staged against a constructed backdrop of the time period in which the car was built.

Mamone expects the cost of the three buildings to be between $3 million and $4 million.  J.G. Petrucci Co. in Clinton, N.J., has been hired to do the construction, and the architectural design was done by Yarrington Architectural Group in Bridgewater, N.J.

The final land development plan will now head to the Board of Supervisors for the final stamp of approval.

If approved, Mamone expects the Lower Nazareth business to be completed in about two years.