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Memo- Auto Sales Lots . 'i!.lllli.lllill.~i .~Hllt~ttH~~1t@~t~H~f}jt1flt~~~~~l~ To: City Council From: Nancy Anderson Date: Subject: Thursday, August 10, 1995 Auto Sales Lots I. Introduction. . Carl Hanson, the owner of Duffs Auto Sales, has requested a variance to allow more sales cars on his lot at 1714 Mainstreet than allowed by his conditional use permit. Mr. Hanson was granted a conditional use permit for an auto sales lot in 1992 and is allowed nine vehicles on his site for sale. Mr. Hanson wants to use all available area on his site for sales vehicles. At their June meeting the Zoning and Planning Commission recommended to the City Council to deny the variance. The City Council has continued the variance and referred a review of the requirements for auto sales lots to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission reviewed various alternatives at their July meeting, II. Backaround. The Zoning Ordinance requires a conditional use permit for aU auto sales lots, One of the conditions for an auto sales lot states the following, The sales lot shall be no larger in square footage than the square footage of the building devoted to the related business, This requirement has been in the Zoning Ordinance since 1977, This requirement was put in the ordinance to limit the number of cars on an auto sales lot. Along with a limit on the amount of cars on the site there are other controls for auto sales lots that affect the appearance of the lot, for example, landscaping, setbacks, and screening. If there was no limitation on the number of vehicles on a sales lot, an individual could construct a small building and the number of vehicles would only be limited by the amount of land a person had. Since the existing ordinance was adopted, the appearance of auto sales lots has improved. . . - . All lots are still required to provide off-street parking for employees and customers and setbacks that may reduce the amount of sale vehicles on the site. III. Comparison of Other Communities. The following are requirements that other communities have, a) St. Louis Park--two square feet of sales lot for every one foot of building, This would allow Mr. Hanson 26 cars on the site based on a 6.5' x14' area for a car and 13 cars based on a 9' x 20' area. Mainstreet USA would be allowed 40 cars based on a 6,5' x 14' area, b) Plymouth--does not have a specific square footage for auto sales lot. Requires a conditional use permit and must meet all setback, landscaping, off street parking requirements, and parking lot design. City does have the ability to limit the number of cars through the conditional use permit process. c) Minnetonka--does not have a specific square footage for auto sales lots. Requires a conditional use permit with a site and building plan review. The city does have the ability to limit the number of cars through the conditional use permit and the site and building plan review. d) Hopkins--square footage of sales lot shall be no larger than the square footage of the building. IV. Alternatives. The following are three alternatives identified by Staff that would allow Duff's Auto to display more vehicles for sale on the site. Any of these alternatives, if implemented, would allow existing as well as future auto sales lots to have more on-site vehicles. a) Do not calculate the number of sale vehicles based upon a standard parking stall. Presently Staff identifies the size of the sales lot based on the 1: 1 ratio and then determines the total number of vehicles allowed using a 9' x 20' parking space. Under this alternative, Staff would not limit the number of vehicles that could be placed in the sales area based on the number of conventional parking spaces. In . . . essence, the operator would be able to park vehicles closer together to increase the number of sales vehicles, The building on Mr. Hanson's site is 1200 square feet. This would allow Mr. Hanson four to six more sales cars on the site, for a total of 13-15 cars (assuming approximately an area of 6.5' x 14' for a car), Mainstreet USA would be allowed approximately an additional 10 sales cars for a total of 20 cars. This alternative probably would not require an ordinance amendment. However, Staff would recommend that language be inserted in the zoning ordinance requiring applicants to provide a site plan detailing the location of display vehicles. b) Calculate the number of cars allowed based on a 1.5 ratio of cars to building rather than the existing 1: 1 ratio. Mr, Hanson would be allowed 1800 square feet for a sales lot. This alternative would allow Mr, Hanson approximately 19 sales cars if the area is based on the calculations of a 6.5' x 14' area for a car. Mr. Hanson would be allowed a total of 10 cars using a 9' x 20' area for a car. Mainstreet USA would be allowed 20 additional sales cars for a total of 30 (based on a 6.5' x 14' area). c) Require a conditional use permit for an auto sales lot and do not have a ratio of cars to building limit on cars. This approach is the same as that of Minnetonka and Plymouth to regulate auto sales lots. This alternative would probably allow Mr. Hanson three to four more cars on the site, Mr. Hanson has also stated that he wants to purchase the building and put cars in the building for a showroom. The cars in the building are not counted as part of the sales lot. V. Conclusions. The existing ordinance regulating auto sales lots has been effective as concerns the following. o limiting the number of auto sales lots in the city. o assuring that auto sales lots do not create a negative appearance, If the ordinance is changed or interpreted differently to allow more sales vehicles on a site, it may be less effective in achieving the above goals. .. -- . VI. ZoninQ and PlanninQ Recommendation. The Zoning and Planning Commission reviewed the alternatives to allowing more cars on auto sales lots, The commission did not want to amend the zoning ordinance to allow a higher ratio of cars to building. However, the commission did indicate that they would be in favor of allowing more cars on the site as detailed in alternative A in this memo. If the City Council is in favor of alternative A concept, the City Council should refer this matter back to the zoning and planning commission for an ordinance amendment. Following the ordinance revision incorporating this change Mr. Hanson and any other auto sales lot would potentially be able to increase the number of cars on the site.