Auto Body Shop Gets Waiting Room for New Yorkers

The Monday night granted Robert Stocker a variance and special exception to add 900 square feet to his auto body shop, , on Bushkill Drive.

Stocker needed a variance because the zoning ordinance requires properties in that area to have a minimum of a 35-foot front yard. The collision center has only 12 feet, but it was built before the ordinance was created.

The shop was originally opened by Stocker’s father, Kenneth, and was 48 feet x 48 feet. In 1971, a 30-foot-by-70-foot addition was constructed, and Robert Stocker has been running the business from both buildings for 35 years.

Now it’s time for a facelift.

Adam Pooler of Custom Contractors LLC in Nazareth, designer for the project, will square off the building and create an even front, blending everything together.

“It will make it look uniform, like one building,” Stocker said.

The green will be gone: The building will be covered in new metal siding. The bottom third will be maroon siding with the top two-thirds in tan.

“I think it will dress it up,” he said. “We’re going to bring it up to date and make it look nice.”

The new addition will also give the business much needed office space and a waiting room.

Stocker said he gets several customers from New Jersey and New York on the weekends, and they want to wait while the work is being done. Right now, he doesn’t have a waiting room.

After the meeting, Stocker said he and his four employees are very busy, but he realizes that the look of a business makes a difference to new patrons. People will choose whether or not to go to a business based on how it looks from the outside, he said.

He is investing $120,000 in the renovations.