$4M P.J. Whelihan's Restaurant Concerns Residents

P.J. Whelihan's unveiled its plan to raze its restaurant on Broadway and .

The restaurant would triple in size to 9,240 square feet and expand its parking to accommodate 114 vehicles at Hausman and Tilghman streets, according to sketch plans presented at the South Whitehall Township Planning Commission's Thursday meeting.

Several in the audience were concerned about parking problems and the destruction of the building, which dates back to 1870.

Barry Dobil, president and owner of Josh Early Candies , which has a store across the street, said P.J. Whelihan's customers often park on his store's lot and vandalize store property.

Dobil said the restaurant has not shown a willingness to work with his company.

"I'm here to tell you parking is a problem. I don't know that 114 spaces is adequate for a 9,000-plus-square-foot building," Dobil said.

Jean Peters, whose family used to own the restaurant when it was The Halfway House, was concerned about the building being razed.

"When are we going to stop taking historical buildings away?" Peters said. "This is what's happening in South Whitehall. We've lost a lot of them. Can't we just build onto it instead of tearing it down and having all this traffic?"

Peters pointed to cities like Bethlehem and Philadelphia as examples of places that preserve their old buildings and value architecture and heritage.

The builder, Jim Gentile, president of North Star Construction Management, countered by saying the building is not historical and is a non-conforming use. 

"I have to agree it's an aged building. I had steamed clams there about 60 years ago when it was The Halfway House," Commissioner Donald Werley said.

"To my knowledge it holds little historical significance in the area. I've seen so many older buildings which had some significance— mills, which have been torn down even though they were on the Registry of Historical Buildings. I don't know if this board can do anything about that," Werley said.

Gentile said the restaurant would ask for several zoning variances, including one for a 25-foot setback instead of a 50-foot setback. He said the change would allow space for another lane of traffic and a traffic light.

The restaurant had asked for a similar variance in 2006 and was granted one when it planned to build an addition and a bank and office building, but that project fell through, Gentile said.

Board President Alan Tope said the street was probably going to need another traffic lane because of the growth of development on Hausman Street. St. Luke's West End Medical Center will be opening soon in the former Builders Square. A 450-unit luxury apartment/retail complex has been proposed and Tighman Square is expanding with the construction of a Univest bank and retail stores.

Gentile said the road could not be widened if the restaurant were to remain in its current location. The restaurant has also acquired the right-of-way through the parking lot of the real estate building next to it.

Gentile said the restaurant would generate 91 trips during its peak traffic hours.