Auto Beauty Specialists seeks special-permit amendment to store vehicles across North Price Road; commission schedules Feb. 6 review

City staff told the Planning & Community Design Commission that Auto Beauty Specialists is seeking to amend an existing 2015 special permit to allow interior storage of vehicles in basement space at 1223 North Price Road, across the street from the company's existing facility at 1220 North Price Road. Staff recommended the petitioner pursue an amendment to the special permit so the use and any conditions can be formally recorded.

Carlos Trejo, Director of Planning and Community Development, said the basement space—under a Paddle and Pickle tenant area—would be leased and used for covered storage of vehicles that Auto Beauty is servicing. Trejo said the city prefers to handle the request through the special-permit process so any permissions are documented and can be revoked if the business leaves or the lease ends.

Representatives for Auto Beauty and the landlord appeared by video. A company representative said the storage would be interior-only, used for drivable vehicles in process, not a repair bay or manufacturing use, and that the company currently manages multiple vehicles on its existing lots. Company representatives said their current workflow and staffing create a natural upper limit on how many vehicles the business can keep on-site; they described that limit as roughly in the low hundreds and said adding the basement storage would be used to better manage in-process vehicles rather than increase total fleet storage. The landlord's leasing representative confirmed the space would require creation of a new drive and a dock-door bay to move vehicles into the lower-level storage.

Commissioners questioned whether the city should require a cap on the number of vehicles stored and asked how the city would handle a lease dispute (for example, if the lease terminated while vehicles remained in the leased space). Staff and the petitioner explained those concerns are primarily legal and contractual: if a dispute arose the landlord would typically pursue legal remedies to regain control of the leased space and the property; staff said the commission could consider permit conditions or limits as part of the special-permit review. Commissioner questions also prompted discussion about whether the permit should specify that stored vehicles be drivable and only used for temporary, in-process storage.

Carlos Trejo told the commission he will prepare the special-permit project information packet (PIP) and related materials for the commission’s Feb. 6 meeting. "We'll get the PIP work ready for the February 6 meeting," Trejo said. No formal action was taken on a special-permit amendment at the Jan. 16 meeting; the request remains subject to the special-permit process and any conditions the commission chooses to impose during a future hearing.

Ending: Staff will prepare the special-permit materials for the Feb. 6 meeting; the commission signaled it may consider numeric or operational limits (for example, caps on stored vehicles, limits to drivable vehicles only, and lease-contingency conditions) when the petition returns.