Easton Zoners Approve Chinese Restaurant

Easton's Zoning Hearing Board gave the green light Tuesday for the opening of a new Chinese Restaurant on the city's South Side.

In a unanimous vote, the board granted a special exception to Bloomfield, New Jersey resident Ji Wang to locate the Chinese restaurant at 700 B Philadelphia Road, a newly constructed one-story building in the strip mall that also houses a Subway and .

"It is designed and built for businesses such as this,” said Board Chair James Edinger.

The yet to be named restaurant will do both dine in and take out although the focus will primarily be dine in according to Wang’s interpreter Guo Lin.

He added that there will be seating enough for 12 customers when the restaurant eventually opens. The hours of operation will be 11:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday and 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays said Lin.

He added that the business will employ three people and will open in about four or five months. Wang owns several other Chinese restaurants in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania area.

Special exceptions are granted for uses that would normally permitted but could potentially cause disruption and therefore merit review from the zoning board before the property owners can move forward.

Edinger said the applicants don't need to meet the high standards of proof necessary for a variance since the use normally would be permitted. He said potential objections to the use could be brought up by members of the board or the public. If there are no complaints, as there weren’t in this case, then it’s a good indication that the use will not be a problem.

"That's always a message of the validity as to how the neighborhood sees it fitting in," said Edinger.

In other business, the board granted a special exception to city residents Adam Dodson and Kimberly Pantaleo to open a tanning salon at 319 Cattel Street, an 800 square foot store front that formerly housed the , which has since moved to Third Street.

Pantaleo, who also owns the Oasis tanning salon in Hellertown, said the business, to be named "The Glow Tanning Studio," will contain six tanning beds, all of which could be used at one time.

The business will employ three people although a maximum of one employee will be on at any one time she said. On Monday through Friday, the business will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 pm. On Saturday, the hours are 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. On Sundays, it will be 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Pantaleo said she chose the location based on its location and the fact that the building was about the proper size for this type salon. As with the Chinese restaurant, there were no public objections.

The business will open in approximately two weeks.