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Fishtown ‘car-vending machine’ seeks zoning OK for signs

The by-right Carvana garage is coming to the neighborhood

By Melissa Romero
Carvana, a car-delivery service, is building a ‘car-vending machine’ in Fishtown.
Courtesy of Carvana

A vacant lot in Fishtown is going to be home to a 75-foot-tall rental building—for cars.

Carvana is a business that touts itself as “Car Vending Machine” that lets you rent or buy used cars and have them delivered to you the next day. It announced plans to build one of its car-vending garages at 1043-69 N. Front Street earlier this year.

But it still needs to clear one hurdle before it gets the all-clear: It requires the zoning board’s green light to install nine illuminated signs along the building for all of the neighborhood to see.

The site, which is currently zoned CMX-3, allows Carvana to build its garage by-right. But while the garage can be built by-right, the current zoning does not allow for signs, which is why Carvana is appealing. According to Fishtown Neighbors Association, the plan calls for a mounting height of 75 feet, 4 inches for eight of the nine signs.

Here is what a typical Carvana car-vending garage looks like:

A post shared by Carvana (@gocarvana) on

And this is the current site in Fishtown, shown here in September 2017 with construction prep underway.

The presentation will take place at Fishtown Neighbors Association zoning meeting on Tuesday, December 19 at 6:30 p.m. Fishtown residents will be able to vote for or against the zoning appeal, which will then go to the zoning board on Wednesday, January 10 at 9:30 a.m.