Sioux City Council approved the ordinance amendment on first reading that revises Chapter 25 zoning districts and Chapter 25.07 definitions to create distinct standards for new and used vehicle dealerships. Planning staff and City Legal told the council the change is intended to limit small, neighborhood-sited car lots while preserving options for legitimate dealerships and for cases where street projects require relocation.

Planning staff explained the rewrite includes new definitions and lot-size standards so the city can differentiate conventional franchise new-vehicle dealerships from smaller used-car lots. Planning staff said, "part of that change is with the new definition so that explains where everybody would fall into," and emphasized the ordinance sets lower lot-size limits intended to keep small, nonconforming lots out of areas not suited for that use.

City Legal and several council members discussed enforcement and foreseeable work-arounds. Steven Stalk, City Legal, warned there are limits on what the city can control through the ordinance: "I think there is a little bit of a limitation in terms of, you know, who's gonna hand out the franchises to the new dealer," and he also noted the ordinance aims at "pocket car dealerships" that have proliferated in some commercial and residential-adjacent locations.

Council members raised concerns about niche cases that the ordinance might not anticipate, such as newly licensable low-speed vehicles that meet DOT rules and could be classified as "new" vehicles, allowing operators to circumvent limits by stocking small numbers of those vehicles alongside large used-car inventories. Members also discussed compliance problems on existing lots and the need for clearer site-plan enforcement; one council member said the new rules give enforcement clearer standards for issuing violations and mapping parking spaces.

The ordinance includes a relocation provision for dealerships displaced by street projects or redevelopment: the council discussed a 12-month period for re-establishing a nonconforming use following acquisition or demolition. Planning staff noted this mirrors legal-nonconforming-use practice: if a nonconforming use is not restarted within 12 months, it is considered abandoned.

The council moved the ordinance and gave it first reading; the mayor noted the item will return for second and third readings next week. Public comment was generally supportive of clearer standards and better enforcement of site plans.