Questions remained unanswered and issues unresolved after a public hearing before the Oakmont Zoning Hearing Board was postponed Thursday night and rescheduled for a second time.
The hearing was initially scheduled Feb. 8, after an ongoing legal battle involving various Oakmont businesses and the borough was to be brought in front of the zoning hearing board.
Resident John Keefe owns multiple restaurants and properties in the borough, including The Lot at Edgewater, Vinnie’s Tavern (previously Oakmont Tavern), Pub 333, Hoffstot’s Cafe Monaco, Michael A’s, Carnivores and the closed Chelsea Grille.
He and his attorney have turned to the borough, Allegheny County Court and Commonwealth Court, claiming that Local Remedy Brewing is operating illegally by not adhering to an ordinance requiring establishments to have off-street parking. He and his attorney seek to appeal the brewery’s occupancy permit.
In the beginning of last year, the borough passed an ordinance that eliminated the requirement of off-street parking for incoming businesses. The ordinance ended up being invalidated by Commonwealth Court last fall.
The initial hearing was postponed to Thursday night after the hearing board questioned its own jurisdiction regarding Local Remedy’s occupancy permit.
During Thursday’s hearing, zoning board chair Joseph Luciana asked Keefe’s attorney Thomas W. King III, Local Remedy Brewery’s attorney Dusty Elias Kirk and borough solicitor Jacob Leyland to prove or disprove the board has jurisdiction to appeal an occupancy permit.
Despite calling the matter a “cautionary appeal” in an effort to check all the boxes needed for the appeal, King argued the board has jurisdiction since the permit was granted on behalf of the borough by a building code official. He said the permit stipulates approval upon the discovery the applicant adheres to all rules, regulations and laws of the borough.
“This, in our opinion, is an appeal from an action by the borough of Oakmont with respect to a decision that this property is being occupied and used in accordance with the zoning laws,” King said.
Leyland argued the zoning board does not have jurisdiction. He said the board does not have the power to take away an occupancy permit granted by a separate entity.
He argued the occupancy certificate was granted before the Commonwealth Court’s decision about the 2024 parking ordinance was final.
“I don’t think there’s any dispute that this was an action of Oakmont borough,” Luciana said. “This is the zoning hearing board. We address zoning issues.”
Zoning permits were previously administered by Borough Manager Scot Fodi, and the role was transitioned to Building Inspection Underwriters of PA Inc. (BIU) before the permit was granted to Local Remedy. BIU also serves as Oakmont’s building code official, Leyland said, and the permit was issued by Jason Krainbucher of BIU on behalf of the borough.
Kirk, Local Remedy Brewery’s attorney, produced a document that showed the brewery owners have since acquired a lease for 18 off-street parking spots in addition to a nine-space parking lot and two loading zones the brewery already owns. He said that puts the brewery in a position to adhere to the borough’s original and current ordinance, which requires business owners to provide off-street parking to customers. He said the document was written and approved by Krainbucher.
King called the document an “ambush” since it was written and submitted Thursday morning without prior notice, and Krainbucher was not present to answer questions about it.
Alexis Wheeler, solicitor for the zoning hearing board, said the introduction of the letter was not determinative of the issue of jurisdiction being discussed.
Leyland, the borough solicitor, stressed King’s argument — that the invalidation of last year’s parking ordinance serves as an automatic revocation of the certificate of occupancy and the conditional use approval that was granted to Local Remedy Brewing — was not relevant for the purposes of the hearing.
“That is a question of law that is outside the purview of the powers that are vested in this board tonight,” Leyland said. “This is not the appropriate forum to hear that question.”
The matter of the brewery’s conditional use permit has been appealed to Commonwealth Court by Keefe, Leyland said.
The matter of the occupancy permit already has been appealed to the Uniform Construction Code Board of Appeals, and a hearing is scheduled for March, King said.
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Ultimately, Luciana deemed the matter would have to remain unresolved since the person who submitted the permit, Krainbucher, was not present to answer questions about how he came to the conclusion of granting the permit.
“The question is: What does the building code official rely upon when he issues the occupancy,” Luciana said. “Does he even take into consideration the compliance with the parking? I don’t know that there’s any testimony or evidence in the record to that credit.
“How can we, as a zoning board, say this determination of this building code official was correct or incorrect?”
A deposition for Krainbucher has been scheduled for March to use in the UCC Board of Appeals hearing. His comments will be brought to the zoning hearing board to determine the board’s jurisdiction.
The zoning board hearing was rescheduled for 6 p.m. April 2 in council chambers in the Oakmont Borough Building.