09-12-2013 Planning Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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2. Motor Vehicle Sales Lot, Outdoor This use has been a common enforcement problem for the City, particularly on properties where it crosses over with outdoor storage of motor vehicles that are stored or parked for repair. The code sets of specific standards for each use, but it is typically difficult to distinguish between parking, storage, and display, and some business operators are not necessarily concerned with the distinction when they have an influx of one class of vehicle or another. As noted above, the City has a limit on the number of outdoor sales lots that can operate in the Industrial area. This limit is in place for at least two primary reasons. First, the Industrial area is not designed or situated to accommodate large quantities of retail traffic. Creating extensive areas of retail sales would raise compatibility issues between browsing retail customers and other industrial and contractor traffic more common in the district. Second, Outdoor Sales in this area was originally established only as a convenience to auto repair businesses which were acquiring title to vehicles in need of repair, and then seeking to sell those vehicles to retail customers, rather than wholesale the vehicle to another licensed dealer. Early on, the City heard from a number of such businesses who indicated that they only had a few such vehicles every year, and who wished to sell them to acquaintances or others, requiring a State license authorizing sale to "retail" (that is, consumer) customers. If such a business sells their repaired vehicles only to other dealers, they only need a "wholesale" license from the State. The City established the Indoor Sales option to allow such businesses to operate and maintain a small inventory of retail vehicles, but with the intention that outdoor sales lots would not proliferate. As noted above, this has been a relatively difficult distinction to make. The current zoning language for this use is as follows: D. Motor vehicle sales lot, provided that: 1. Outside services and sales are associated with a principal building of at least one thousand (1,000) square feet of floor area. 2. The entire sales lot and off - street parking area is paved. 3. Vehicles being displayed shall be in operable condition, and shall be licensed according to the State sales license held by the business owner on the premises. Any other vehicles shall be stored inside, or subject to an Interim Use Permit for Outdoor Storage as regulations by Section 914.045.A of this Ordinance. 4. A minimum of three hundred eighty (380) square feet of sales area per vehicle is provided, and no more than ten (10) vehicles may be displayed outdoors for sale at any time. 5. Adequate off - street parking and off - street loading in compliance with the requirements of Sections 903.050 and 903.060 of this Ordinance is provided. 6. A perimeter curb is provided around the sales /parking lot.