Commercial Locksmith in Harrisburg, PA

Harrisburg's business districts

Commercial locksmith work in Harrisburg splits between two kinds of property. The HBG2020 Comprehensive Plan places mixed-use commercial zoning along North 3rd, North 6th, South 13th, South 17th and Derry Streets, and auto-oriented retail at the Uptown Shopping Plaza, South 29th Street and Paxton Street.

• Mixed-use streets. According to the city's 2021 design guidelines, many commercial-style buildings date from 1860 to 1900 and are typically brick with housing upstairs. The guidelines say the retail entrance should stay distinct from the upper-floor access, which leaves an owner with at least two doors serving two groups of people.
• Auto-oriented retail. A plaza or strip store typically has a customer entrance and a rear or service door, each needing its own key plan.

If a storefront sits in one of the city's six municipal historic districts, § 7-317.6 of the Zoning Code covers exterior changes a passerby can see from the street, alley or sidewalk, so check with the city before changing the door itself. This is general information, not legal advice.

Keys through staff and tenant turnover

Keys leave with people. When staff change or a tenant moves out:

• Collect keys, then rekey anyway. A returned key says nothing about copies. Lock rekeying the cylinders a former employee or tenant could open closes that gap.
• Separate the storefront from the upstairs. In a mixed-use building, keep the shop, the upper-floor entrance and each apartment on different keys, so a retail tenant's staff never hold residents' keys.
• Plan a master key system when people need different levels of access, such as an owner who opens everything and staff who open only the front door and stockroom.
• Keep a key log of who holds which key.
• Consider keypad or smart locks for staff doors, where a code can be deleted on someone's last day; see smart lock installation.

Details for a commercial request

Give the street and cross street, which doors are involved (storefront, rear, upstairs entrance, office), what each is made of, whether the building is in a historic district, how many people hold keys, and whether the work has to happen while you are closed. Pennsylvania Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Harrisburg.