Mount Vernon planning board debates time-limited special permit for 677 North McQueston parking lot

At a Mount Vernon Planning Board work session prior to the Oct. 8 meeting, board members debated whether to attach an expiration or other conditions to a special permit request that would allow commercial parking at 677 North McQueston Parkway.

The lot is an existing surface parking area that had been used by a car dealership, and the new owner has asked to formalize public parking there for a temporary period while a longer-term development is considered. “This was a temporary use that he felt was needed by the community,” the assistant commissioner said.

Board members pressed staff on ways to prevent the temporary use from becoming permanent. “So is there a way of limiting a time frame where they would have to come back to reapply for a special permit? So, like, say we granted it for 2, 3 years or something like that,” Commissioner Wise said.

Planning staff told the board the local zoning code gives the board discretion to attach conditions to special permits. A staff member reading the code said, “All special permits shall comply with the following standards ... The approving agency shall attach such additional conditions and safeguards to any special permit as are in its opinion necessary to ensure the initial and continual conformance to all applicable standards and requirements.” The same staff member later read the code’s expiration language: the special permit “shall expire if said use shall cease for more than 1 year for any reason, or if substantial construction in accordance with the special permit has not been completed within 2 years from the date of issue.”

Staff and several commissioners discussed options the board could impose, including a fixed expiration date (two to five years), a requirement that subsequent owners reapply, or a condition that the property be developed in accordance with the future comprehensive plan. One commissioner advocated for a binding commitment to develop the parcel “pursuant to whatever the comprehensive plan requires” before granting a temporary approval.

Planning staff said they would check the code more thoroughly and present recommended language at the regular meeting the following evening. The presentation to the planning board is timed to precede a city council public hearing on the comprehensive plan, which the assistant commissioner said is scheduled for 7 p.m. the next day.

The board did not take a final vote on the special permit during the work session. Staff said the planning board has the discretion to impose time limits or other conditions when it considers the application at the regular meeting.

Next steps: staff will research and present specific permit condition language and any relevant code citations at the next planning board meeting, and the board will consider those conditions when it takes up the 677 North McQueston permit application.