For almost 25 years, Gene Weierbach worked hard to run his auto repair shop located on his property in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. Now, he might lose his livelihood after a dispute with a disgruntled customer who happens to be a local government official.
Weierbach operates his auto repair shop on his 16-acre property. “In 2013, it became more important for me to be here full-time because of my son’s disability. So in 2013, when I was laid off from that glass plant manufacturing job, I just decided to work full-time from home because I was starting to get more and more business,” he told Townhall.
The mechanic runs a one-man operation that had never had a complaint — until Dennis Klusaritz, the Chairman of the Township’s Board of Supervisors, according to a lawsuit filed against the township.
Klusaritz brought Weierbach a high-mileage vehicle for repairs in 2023. After Weierbach completed the repairs, Klusaritz complained about the price. Yet, despite complaining, the official used Weierbach’s services for two other vehicles. However, he complained each time after the repairs were completed.
“He was complaining that the oil change is too much money,” Weierbach recalled.
Eventually, Weierbach politely told Klusaritz that if he was unhappy with his work, he was welcome to take his business elsewhere, according to text messages that were included in court documents. He believed this would be the end of it. Unfortunately for Weierbach, it was only the beginning.
What came after was a protracted legal battle for the survival of Weierbach’s business. Shortly after the dispute, Weierbach received a cease-and-desist letter from the township’s zoning board. It claimed his auto shop violated the zoning code prohibiting home auto repair businesses on his residential property.
“We’ve lived here for over twenty years without a single complaint,” Gene said. “Suddenly, after this dispute, it’s like we’re criminals for trying to make an honest living.”
The letter surprised Weierbach, who had operated his business for 24 years. Located in a rural area, many community members used his services rather than having to drive into town to have their vehicles serviced.
If he had to shut down his business, it would have a devastating impact on his family. The auto repair shop isn’t just his career, but also the only viable option he has for a livelihood. He and his wife, Debbie, are primary caregivers for his 32-year-old son, who is nonverbal, severely autistic, suffers from seizures, and has a rare cardiac condition.
“He was ordered to completely shut down, which is the only way that he knows how to earn a living. I mean, the only way that he really can earn a living, given the familial concerns that he has,” said attorney Ari Bargill with the Institute for Justice, who is representing the Weierbach family. “Gene has a son who’s 32 years old and is severely autistic. It’s not like he can just close up his shop and go get a job as a mechanic somewhere in town. That’s not an option for him.”
Klusaritz allegedly used his position as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors to trigger an investigation into Weierbach’s business behind the scenes.
In September 2023, Gene applied for a variance that would allow him to continue operating his business. The township’s zoning board granted his request, noting that “no objections to the variance were made at this hearing,” according to the complaint.
However, Klusaritz was not finished with Gene, according to the lawsuit. He filed an appeal to the Lehigh County Court. What began as a petty dispute over auto repairs quickly metastasized into what appeared to be government retaliation.
The court sent the matter back to the Zoning Board, where the battle dragged on through months of hearings in late 2024 and early 2025. In sworn testimony, former North Whitehall Township Supervisor Stephen Pany confirmed that the local government previously allowed small, one-man home auto shops as long as they were not causing a nuisance. “The Weierbachs’ property would have been allowed to operate” while he was in charge, he said.
Nevertheless, the board finally reversed itself in July, denying Gene’s right to operate his business on his private property.
The conflict has taken a heavy toll on the Weierbach family. “When all this started happening, the stress level in this house has been out of control. We’ve both lost weight,” Debbie said. “Gene’s been sick to his stomach. It’s just been constant.”
She added, “It’s not just his business, it’s our family’s livelihood. We have a disabled son who depends on us. If they shut him down, what are we supposed to do?”
With local remedies exhausted, the Weierbachs, with the help of the Institute for Justice, filed a sweeping lawsuit challenging the township’s zoning code as unconstitutional. The lawsuit argues that the categorical ban on home auto repair services violates multiple constitutional rights.
Bargill highlighted the seriousness of this case, explaining that “zoning laws were meant to stop genuine nuisances, not to give politicians and bureaucrats a blank check to decide who gets to earn a living, and not to give vindictive politicians a weapon to go after their personal enemies.”
The Weierbachs’ plight is not an isolated case. “Zoning abuse, unfortunately, is quite rampant, and it went from being a tool by which local government would regulate nuisance uses…to a tool by which government seems to regulate all manner of things,” Bargill explained.
Zoning laws originated in the early 20th century as a way to separate toxic industries from homes and schools. However, it has now grown into a beast that empowers the government to dictate how people can use their property. In cases like the Weierbachs’, zoning laws were allegedly used to support a personal vendetta.
For Gene and Debbie, this is not only a fight over a business, it is a struggle for survival. “Our son can’t be left alone, not for one second,” Debbie said. “Gene has to be here to take care of him. That’s why working out of the house was the only option.”
For the Institute for Justice, this case is about setting a precedent. The lawsuit proposes a curative amendment that would remove the categorical ban on these types of businesses and replace with individualized assessments to determine whether a home operation actually causes a nuisance.
“I totally want to see the unconstitutional ordinance that bans people from making a living from their home in any field… There should be no reason I shouldn’t be able to support my family with the only way I know how, without the Township having all these little laws that say, ‘Too bad, so sad,’” Gene said.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with their legal expenses.
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