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Plan Commission reviews Toby’s Auto site expansion, directs staff to draft conditional auto‑sales language
Summary
The Cottage Grove Plan Commission reviewed a site plan for a 600 sq ft addition and expanded parking at Toby’s Auto (221 Bonney Road) and asked staff to draft zoning language to allow accessory auto sales in the older industrial district; no final zoning change was adopted at the meeting.
The Cottage Grove Plan Commission on the evening considered a site plan amendment for Toby’s Auto at 221 Bonney Road that would add a 600‑square‑foot addition and expand parking, and directed staff to draft zoning language to allow limited auto sales as an accessory use in the village’s older industrial district.
Planning consultant Lee Madden, representing owner Giovanni Ortega, told the commission: "They have a facility at 221 Bonney Road, and they've been operating, in that facility with, a body shop, repairing vehicles primarily for their own, resale." Madden said the proposal before the commission is for "a 20 by 30 addition, which would become employee break area and sales counter," plus repaving, landscaping, lighting, signage and a stormwater retention area now required by village ordinances.
The panel discussed two linked items: the site plan (agenda item 8) and a proposed zoning allowance to permit accessory auto sales where repair is the primary use (agenda item 9). Planning staff said the earlier 2005 master plan contemplated future parking growth and noted the existing lot has seven stalls; the current concept shows 25 additional stalls on the east side and the addition of stormwater retention. Staff recommended either approving the site plan with conditions or holding both the site plan and a zoning change until more complete materials (engineer’s stormwater report, building elevations, landscape plan) are submitted.
"If you guys are open to considering that, then you would indicate that to me, and I can draft up some language for the next, meeting that we could consider formally," planning staff told the commission, referring to accessory auto sales rules that would be established as a conditional use in the industrial district. Commissioners discussed potential restrictions—setbacks from sidewalks, limits tied to nearby residential areas, and compatibility with Commerce Park covenants that already prohibit vehicle sales.
The commission asked staff to prepare draft ordinance language for an accessory auto‑sales allowance in the older industrial district and to bring back a complete package (site engineering, stormwater calculations, building elevations, landscaping and signage) for formal review. No final zoning change or site plan approval was adopted at the meeting; staff indicated that if the site plan were approved first it would then go to the Village Board, but auto sales could not begin until zoning was changed in a later cycle.
Commissioners also flagged specific site issues for the next submittal: the stormwater design, a staff comment noting a 10‑foot setback may be required along the sidewalk, and a clearer vehicle layout for the proposed display stalls.
Next steps: staff will draft proposed ordinance language for an accessory auto‑sales conditional use, the applicant will supply engineering and design details for stormwater and building elevations, and the full package will return to the commission for formal action and then to the Village Board.
