Barbecue, church and daycare all receive approval from Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board

WILKES-BARRE — A new barbecue restaurant was one of several applications approved Wednesday at the Zoning Hearing Board’s monthly meeting.

Bulldog BBQ has operated as a curbside and take-out restaurant for the last eight years and will now have a permanent location at 773 S. Franklin St., a long-vacant lot previously the site of the former PanAm Silk Mill.

Owner Vincent Balint purchased the property from the city back in April 2023 for $65,000.

Balint said that the restaurant will operate four or five days a week, with indoor and outdoor seating, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will be a non-alcoholic establishment.

The application was approved with several variances pending any additional land development requirements.

In particular, the board approved a variance to waive Section 1014 of the city’s zoning ordinance, which states that any off-street parking area for 10 or more vehicles shall be graded for proper drainage and paved with asphalt for concrete.

There is already an existing concrete pad on the property and Balint said he hopes to pave the parking area at some point in the future.

The variance was approved for two years, beginning at the time the business becomes operational, and the board will revisit the variance once that time is up.

Balint hopes to open Bulldog BBQ sometime in the fall.

The board also approved an application by KB Worship Centre International Ministries, an Evangelical Christian Church founded in 2019 in Jamaica, to establish a 900-square-foot church inside an eight-unit apartment building at 269 S. Washington St.

The church was approved for a special exception to permit shared parking of four spaces at an adjacent lot at 257 S. Washington St. and a variance to waive eight parking spaces for the proposed use.

The small ministry currently seats 50 people, with Sunday services from 10 a.m. to approximately 12:30 p.m., with additional services online.

Additionally, Moon Beams Daycare Center was approved for a special exception to establish a daycare home at 136 Charles St. for 8 children, along with a variance to widen the property’s driveway from 20 feet to 31 feet.

The additional driveway space will accommodate more vehicles during pick-up and drop-off in order to limit traffic congestion on the road.

Continuances

Several applicants were approved for a continuance, including AMZ Property Preservation, which applied for a variance to establish a property preservation business inside a 2400-square-foot vacant commercial building at Rear 57 W. Chester St.

The request was made after the board suggested the business owner consult a professional land surveyor to draw up a site plan after questions arose from board members as well as several residents over how many vehicles would be parked on the property and where.

The business cleans out and remodels foreclosed homes in the area and intends to use the property to store equipment, as well as service and repair company vehicles as needed.

With nine employees and several work vehicles that would be coming and going from the property, the board requested to see a more detailed plan of how the parking lot will be laid out and organized.

Also continued was an application by Alberto Rodriguez for a special exception for his auto repair business at 777 S. Franklin St. to include body work as well as a used car business with an inventory of no more than 20 vehicles.

Rodriquez leases the space and his application was continued until next month because the owner of the property was not present to answer questions.

The next Zoning Hearing Board meeting will take place April 17.