The Board of Zoning Appeals on July 24 approved variances that let AutoVest LLC expand a vehicle display area at 2130 South Walnut Street while modifying staff conditions on required trees and landscaping. The board voted 5-0. "They are requesting a variance from front parking setbacks ... variance from tall canopy trees ... variance from the amount of shrubs ..." said Eric Kralik, development services manager, during the staff report.

The petition asked for multiple variances so the dealership could remove several buildings and parking areas north of an existing Kia dealership and convert that space into additional vehicle display area. Under the UDO parking-lot landscaping rules staff identified, the proposed layout shows 323 parking spaces; by code that would require 969 shrubs and 81 tall canopy trees adjacent to parking. The applicant asked to install 454 shrubs and 24 tall canopy trees instead, and to plant small/medium street trees 40 feet on center along Walnut rather than the code's 15-foot spacing for small trees.

Kralik recommended approval of variances for front parking setback, parking-lot shrub and canopy-tree quantities, and for relief from the requirement that each parking-island contain a tall canopy tree, but he recommended denial of the requested street-tree spacing variance. He told the board the site’s west half is in a Clear Creek floodplain and riparian buffer and that roughly half the parcel will remain preserved, which the staff said partly offsets reduced planting on the developable east half.

Daniel Butler of Bynum Fannie and Associates, representing the petitioner, told the board the dealership design reflects long-standing dealer practice and that tall canopy trees immediately adjacent to display rows create practical difficulties for maintaining inventory. "We're asking for a compromise," Butler said, explaining the owners plan to plant large canopy trees on the north side of the site and smaller trees along Walnut because of overhead utilities.

After discussion the board moved to approve case V-22-25 with modifications described on the record: require a total of 10 additional tall canopy trees along the Walnut Street frontage, remove condition number 3 as written in staff materials (the board cited potential damage to dealership inventory as the basis), and incorporate the stated finding language on the record regarding injurious effects. The motion passed 5-0. The roll call was: Kacinko — yes; Throckmorton — yes; Ballard — yes; Burrell — yes; Fernandez — yes.

What the approval means: AutoVest may proceed with the expanded display area using the reduced shrub and canopy-tree counts approved by the board, subject to the board’s modification to staff conditions requiring additional canopy trees along the frontage. The board also clarified that each variance was judged on the property’s circumstances and that prior variances on adjacent parcels do not automatically set precedent.

The board heard no public opposition at the hearing and made the approvals subject to the record modifications described above. The petitioner may now coordinate final site plans and permitting with development services and the city’s engineering and landscape reviewers.

The staff report, site plan, and the board’s findings remain part of the public record for V-22-25; procedural next steps are ministerial permitting reviews and any required landscape plan revisions to reflect the board’s motion.