WHITEHALL TWP, Pa. – Visit SMP Steaks in Whitehall, and you’ll see signs in all the windows, saying things like, “Voted Best Cheesesteak in the Lehigh Valley.”
“The cheesesteaks are really, really good,” John Barrett, a customer from Slatington, said.
But one sign that recently showed up on the shop’s sidewalk is less welcomed by the owners than the others: a zoning notice.
“I’m at a loss of words to be honest with you,” Chade Sankari said.
This past August, he opened a second location, right across the way, on Schadt Avenue. While the sister store is called SMS Steaks, Sankari says it’s just another location for the same shop to better accommodate customers.
Sankari says he did everything by the book, with all proper permitting in place from the beginning.
“We just followed exactly what we were told,” Sankari said. “They did their inspection, they counted their seats, they, they told us what tables have to be handicapped,” he said.
He says there should have been no surprises.
“Plumbing permits, hood permit to install the hood in the back for the, for the grills, walk-in cooler, walk-in freezer permits,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars later, with all permits in place, and just days after officially opening, Sankari says some of the same officials who appeared at the ribbon cutting were now sending Sankari an email to close immediately.
Sankari says he was told he now needs a restaurant permit, instead of what he’d already been approved for — and what his original store has been zoned as, for almost four years across the street: a deli/retail, serving hot and cold sandwiches.
Sankari maintains his shop is definitely the latter.
“We sell bread, we sell milk, we sell medicine,” he said. “We sell what we said we were going to sell. It’s all there.”
The shop is still open while Sankari works to appeal the notice. He has a lawyer and says he has all the documents to prove his case.
The official language of the appeal on the township’s website states:
“…This is an appeal from an Enforcement Notice. Appellant denies that it is operating a restaurant without a Use Permit, without Special Exception approval, and without sufficient parking for the number of seats…”
Sankari says if there is any overflow to his parking, he’s been directing cars across the street to his original location.
“I did hang signs up trying to guide my customers to park across the street,” he said, “and I was informed that they’re illegal signs and I could be fined for them to remove them.”
He says he even hired a crossing guard to walk folks across the street for the first month, until business calmed down after the initial opening.
Whitehall Township Mayor Joseph Marx tells 69 News he can’t comment, since this is a ruling made by zoning officers.
69 News has not heard back from Whitehall Township zoning officials, despite multiple attempts to reach them, starting with Eat, Sip, Shop columnist Ryan Kneller’s first attempts one day prior.
The community has been largely supporting the local business:
“He puts a lot of money into the business, helps out the community and everything that,” Barrett said. “So I don’t think that’s right at all.”
The shop’s post on social media has gained hundreds of shares, comments, and reactions, including ones from loyal customers, like: ‘Nobody is messing with my chicken cutlet sandwich spot.’
“The community support has been awesome,” Sankari said. “And I say this to everyone, and I’ll say it over and over again. We are nothing without the community. Nothing without the community.”