Variance approved for car wash at former New Kensington Kmart site

A developer will be able to pursue building a car wash at the site of a former Kmart on Tarentum Bridge Road in New Kensington.

By a 2-to-1 vote, the city’s three-member zoning hearing board Thursday approved 100 Riverview’s request for a variance for the car wash, which otherwise is not allowed there in the C-2 general commercial zoning area.

The project will need to go to the city’s planning commission for a subdivision and review of its land development plan before construction can begin, city Zoning Officer Tony Males said.

Those two processes can be done separately or at the same time, Males said. When that will happen was not known.

Whether or not it will have to go to New Kensington Council is also not yet known, Males said. It would need council approval only if it will draw more than 1,000 vehicles a day.

In its application for the variance, 100 Riverview said the car wash is a pivotal part of its $1.8 million proposal to redevelop the former Kmart site in Riverview Plaza. The department store, which closed in January 2019, is in the process of being demolished.

While the variance was approved without any conditions, Males said there was discussion of there being some kind of fencing or vegetation buffer along Craigdell Road, at the back of the property, to which he said the developer was agreeable.

In arguing for the variance, Males said the developer claimed the shape of the ground with its back corner and retaining walls creates an area with limited retail development potential. They said the car wash also would improve safety by creating a better traffic pattern within the shopping center.

Besides the car wash, plans for the property submitted to the city show a grocery store attached to the strip mall and a free-standing building with three retail spaces in part of the parking lot.

While a member of the zoning hearing board asked if Aldi was the grocer, Males said the developer said they did not have a contract with the company or any other at this time.

The approval for this project comes just over a year after the board unanimously rejected a variance for a car wash on the other side of Tarentum Bridge Road. In that case, Males said the applicant failed to prove any hardships to justify a variance.