The Warrenton City Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 2 recommended denial, by a 7-0 vote, of Site Plan 179 — an application to open a 2,665-square-foot Warrenton Tobacco and Vapor store at 1001 North Highway 47.

The commission's action was driven by questions about who holds legal rights to the property and by inconsistent contact information on the application. The recommendation to deny will be forwarded to the Warrenton Board of Aldermen for consideration at its Jan. 21 meeting.

City staff member John summarized the application, saying the site covers about 0.41 acres in a C-2 General Commercial District and would reuse the existing building that formerly operated as a convenience/gas store. The plan calls for 11 parking spaces and updates to landscaping, including nine trees and 23 shrubs, to meet current code, staff said.

Donna Bunge, who said she is the executor for her mother Barbara Hartnagle and was speaking on behalf of the property's owners, told the commission the application lists the owner as Hartnagle Joint Revocable Living Trust but gives contact information for Warrenton Oil. She said the owners did not sign documents transferring rights. "We have not signed anything," Bunge said, and said the family opposes the proposed use. She also told the commission the owners have a landlord estoppel certificate and a landlord's consent to the lease assignment dated Feb. 23, 2023, which, she said, shows the current tenant had agreed to certain limits on assignment and extension; she said the lease expires April 17, 2027.

Bart Corman, an engineer presenting for the applicant, said the proposal would sell similar retail goods that had been sold at the location previously and that the applicant planned to use the existing building. Mark Baker, who identified himself as representing Warrenton Oil Company and as the party under lease, told the commission the site plan was required because of a vacancy gap between uses; he said the shorter the gap, the less likely a site plan would have been needed.

The city attorney told the commission that ownership and lease disputes are generally civil matters, and that the Planning and Zoning Commission's role is to consider whether the site plan complies with the code and permitted uses for the zoning district. Several commissioners said they were unwilling to advance a site plan filed by an applicant who, in their view, had not demonstrated a legal proprietary interest in the property or clear authorization from the property owner.

Commissioner Scott Costello moved, and Commissioner Cornell seconded, a motion "to deny the Warrenton Tobacco and Vapor Site Plan-179 for the reasons mentioned." The motion passed in a roll-call vote 7-0; Commissioners Cooper, Dieterman, Cornell, Mann, Miller, Costello and Chairman Rich Barton voted yes. Commissioners Cheryl Cullum, Jason Cullum and Durbin were recorded as absent. The commission's recommendation will be placed on the Jan. 21 Board of Aldermen agenda.

The application packet included the applicant name Warrenton Tobacco and Vapor and listed the owner as Hartnagle Joint Revocable Living Trust; public comment and documents submitted at the meeting raised a contested record about who may lawfully authorize the proposed use. The commission did not take final local legislative action on the use; it made a recommendation to the Board of Aldermen. The staff report, as presented, said all site-plan technical items had been met per code.

After the vote the commission closed the meeting. The minutes from the Dec. 5, 2024 meeting were approved at the start of the Jan. 2 session, and commissioners confirmed there was no scheduled February meeting.