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Planning board recommends denial of request to allow auto-sales at two Mecklenburg Highway lots; commissioners question feasibility and safety
Summary
Applicant sought to amend a 2005 conditional zoning at 1179 and 1181 Mecklenburg Highway to permit outdoor display of up to 20 vehicles; planning board ultimately recommended denial after the applicant increased the number of display vehicles and concerns about fit, parking and safety were raised.
Mooresville planning staff presented a conditional rezoning amendment on Sept. 10 that would permit auto sales at two small commercial lots at 1179 and 1181 Mecklenburg Highway.
Veronica Bateson, presenting the case, said the owner and applicant is Vladimir Studenetz and the site totals 0.82 acres in Ward 1. The parcels were conditionally zoned in 2005 and the current restrictions do not allow display vehicles to be parked in front of the lots. The applicant requested several commercial uses in amended conditions, including personal and commercial vehicle sales and repair, and asked to display up to 20 vehicles (five in front of 1179 and 15 in front of 1181).
Bateson said the applicant held a neighborhood meeting on June 25 attended by two members of the public; those attendees expressed support for the request. The planning board first continued the case on June 25 to allow a concept plan; when the applicant returned he amended the request to allow up to 20 display vehicles and on Aug. 26 the planning board unanimously recommended denial.
During the board discussion several commissioners questioned whether 20 display vehicles could physically fit on the site and raised safety concerns about vehicle storage and spacing. Commissioner DeWeese said the idea of vehicles parked in front yards around town had been a problem historically and that permitting a front-yard display on Mecklenburg Highway would be a poor precedent.
Commissioner West asked whether the town has standards for display spacing and fire-safety setbacks for outdoor vehicle storage; staff and other commissioners said those matters would need to be addressed in site-plan review but that the current concept plan did not make feasibility or fire-safety mitigation clear.
No formal board action is recorded in the transcript; the planning board’s recommendation to deny and the commissioners’ comments will return as part of the town’s public hearing process if this item is scheduled for ordinance action.
