Owner of New Kensington auto glass shop has plans for used car lot

The owner of a New Kensington auto glass business has plans to open a small used car lot.

But first, Roy Berg will need special permission from the city.

“I’ve always messed with cars. I work on them all day long,” said Berg, of Upper Burrell. “I thought, why not sell some?”

Berg wants to open the used car lot at the back of 404 Freeport St.

The city’s Zoning Hearing Board is scheduled to hear Berg’s appeal for a special exception for the lot when it meets at Feb. 10.

The car lot would be located where Berg’s glass business, AK Valley Auto Glass, is now housed. He has plans to move the glass shop to a building he plans to put up on property in the city on 7th Street near 7th Street Extension.

For the car lot, Berg said he envisions doing just sales, and having fewer than 10 cars at any time.

He said he wants to sell “a good car for a decent price.”

For the glass business, Berg said a new building would have a taller garage door so he can work on motor homes and tractor trailers inside.

His plans for the car lot and moving the glass business have both been slowed by the pandemic.

“I don’t believe there’s a right time to start anything,” Berg said. “It’s either you do it or you don’t. There’s never, ever a right time.”

After getting approval for the car lot from the city, Berg said he would then need approval from the state.

He’s hoping to have it running in a year, but can’t be sure.

“Honestly, things should have been done a year ago,” he said. “Everybody tells me the same old story: ‘There’s a pandemic.’ Everything’s out the window. You don’t know what’s going to happen or how long it’s going to take.”

For the glass shop, Berg hopes to get a building permit this year, and be moved into it next year.

Berg said he’s going to keep after both projects.

“I have nothing else to do,” he said. “Once you’re financially invested, you don’t quit.”