Unity zoning panel clears way for alignment shop, affirms U-Haul use of plaza lot

The Unity Township Zoning Hearing Board cleared the way for a proposed vehicle alignment shop in Pleasant Unity while upholding U-Haul’s use of its outdoor space at Mountain Laurel Plaza.

The board on Wednesday approved owner Jason Mignogna’s request to use the former Pleasant Unity VFW social hall site for his vehicle alignment and calibration business. He plans to construct a 4,800-square-foot garage as an expansion of the VFW’s existing nonconforming use in an agricultural zone along Route 981.

Mignogna still must gain township approval of a site plan for the building. He told the board it would be on a paved area behind the vacant VFW hall, which he intends to use for office space.

He also plans to retain a pavilion the VFW post rented for private functions.

Mignogna said he wants the new garage to be “easy on the eye. We want to make it look rural and fit in with the scenery.”

He said there would be far fewer vehicles traveling to the property than when the social hall was active. Mignogna explained the garage will replace a location he is leasing and will serve as a satellite to his collision shop on Route 30 in Unity.

One or two employees would work at the garage, he said, performing wheel alignments and calibrating driver-assistance systems — such as collision avoidance and parking assist features — after vehicles have undergone repair at the Route 30 shop.

He said the new garage would not be open to customers and would operate 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, likely servicing no more than five noncommercial vehicles per day.

The zoning panel also ruled AMERCO Real Estate, the parent company of U-Haul, can use the parking lot of the former Kmart store to park vehicles when they’re not being rented. The board said that is permitted as an ancillary use relative to other services U-Haul provides inside the former retail store along Route 30 — self-storage units and sales of moving supplies, including boxes.

Township Zoning Officer Harry Hosack argued the vehicle lot qualifies as a terminal, a use not permitted in the regional commercial zone at the plaza. But Hosack said he will abide by the zoning board’s ruling.

AMERCO attorney Bernie Rabik said the company paid $2.5 million for the shuttered Kmart property last April with the belief vehicle rentals were permitted under the property’s zoning.

Mike Zemba, a U-Haul district vice president, told the zoning board the former Kmart lot will provide ample space for the company’s rental vehicles and that it will keep open traffic throughways in its portion of the Mountain Laurel Plaza.

“We’re happy to be here,” he said.

He said vehicles might be washed at the Unity site, but all maintenance is performed at a U-Haul location in Plum.