WHITEHALL, Pa. — A proposal for a business that will sell backyard sheds, garages, recreational buildings and commercial structures got approval Tuesday from Whitehall Zoning Hearing Board.
Tuff Shed Inc. plans a location at 2672 Eberhart Road.
District Manager Tim Williams and attorney Jeff Fleischaker said the company does much of its business with Home Depot, but also operates independent showroom-style businesses, with its busiest in New Jersey.
Sheds “are not impulse buy items.”
Tuff Sheds inc. District Manager Tim Williams
Much of the deliberation over the business was about how far the shed buildings would be from the road, how big the signage would be and the size and number of the parking spots.
The board asked Williams why only eight parking spaces were proposed for the business, and he said it typically doesn’t do huge numbers of foot traffic at retail locations.
“Typically, we don’t have more than one customer visit at any time,” he said. “There’s never three or four or five. Again, these [sheds] are not impulse buy items.”
Tuff Sheds Inc.’s approval includes a list of conditions, including a mandated distance the sheds would have to be from the road.
New sign for mall
Also Tuesday, zoners approved an additional sign at Lehigh Valley Mall for an entrance where only one sign is permitted.
Mall General Manager Colleen Anspach and lawyer Timothy McHugh requested permission to install a sign with “Halo-Lit Letters”, manufactured by the company Forman Signs.
The board asked about how bright the lights on the sign would be and why they believed it was important to have them.
Anspach said the lights were not very bright at all — more just accent lighting around the letters. She also said it was important to their business strategy and economic function in Whitehall.
“We spent a lot of money this year, over $1.1 million back into [the mall.] It’s very important that we maintain our market share and we provide our customers with an elevated shopping experience,”
Colleen Ansbach
“We spent a lot of money this year, over $1.1 million back into” the mall, Andspach said. “It’s very important that we maintain our market share and we provide our customers with an elevated shopping experience.
“To do that, and also to secure the tenants we have in the business, to lease space, to secure those national tenants that the retailers that the customers want, it’s very important that we invest that money back into the property.”
Tim Olsen, representing Forman Signs, served as a witness for the mall and went into detail about what the sign looks like.
“It would be like if you were holding up a shoebox and put a flashlight in it,” Olsen said. “And depending on who the customer is, we always keep it shorter, give it a crisper line, so it’s not going to be something bright like a billboard.”
The request was approved.
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