Indio planning commission approves AutoZone 19,000-square-foot storage addition on Jackson Street

The City of Indio Planning Commission on April 9 adopted Resolution No. 2107 conditionally approving a roughly 19,000-square-foot accessory stockroom addition to the existing AutoZone store at 41850 Jackson Street.

Assistant Planner Nicholas Witrone of the Community Development Department presented the application (planning review case PRD240016), describing the site as part of a larger 6.12-acre commercial development near the northeast corner of Avenue 42 and Jackson Street. The proposed single-story, approximately 24-foot-high stockroom would be located directly north of the existing retail building and add storage space to serve the Indio location and other AutoZone sites in the Coachella Valley.

Staff told commissioners the project is designated commercial in the general plan, zoned regional commercial under the Unified Development Code, and is permitted as an accessory structure to the existing retail use. Witrone said the proposal complies with setback, height, landscaping and parking standards and that environmental review is covered under the previously adopted Initial Study with Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Greens Indio project; no new CEQA documentation was required for this expansion. "The proposed development was found to be consistent with the environmental analysis and no further CEQA documentation is required," Witrone said.

Dana Privet of Kimberly Horn & Associates, the applicant's CEQA representative, summarized the intended use: "The intent is really to provide additional storage capacity for the existing AutoZone." Privet and Jacob Place of Kimley (representing AutoZone) said the addition is not intended as a regional distribution warehouse for large truck trailers; occasional AutoZone vans may pick up stock for other stores but the site is not being converted to heavy truck activity.

Key project elements and conditions discussed at the hearing include:

- Size and layout: an approximately 19,000-square-foot, one-story stockroom north of the existing retail store on a roughly 1.6-acre portion of the development parcel; the developer intends to submit a lot merger so the building will not cross property lines.

- Landscaping and screening: the project proposes about 20% of the site in landscaping, exceeding the city's 10% minimum; a condition of approval (condition No. 30) requires installation of three large non-fruiting palm trees in the existing parking lot, each at least 20 feet in height at planting, with the Community Development director to finalize species and placement.

- Building design and rooftop equipment: the building will include neutral stucco finishes and parapet rooflines. Commissioners asked whether parapets will fully screen rooftop mechanical equipment; staff and the applicant said plan check and building-permit review will require callouts and specifications to ensure screening is adequate. Place said existing and proposed parapets are approximately 5 to 6 feet and that the project team will coordinate a line-of-sight study during plan review.

- Public outreach and environmental safeguards: staff notified property owners within a 500-foot radius and published notice in the Desert Sun. Brian Halverson (staff) confirmed that the mitigation monitoring program attached to the Greens Indio Mitigated Negative Declaration remains in effect for this expansion. No public comments were received at the hearing.

- Off-site improvements and construction timing: the applicant said it will provide off-site improvements tied to the widening of Jackson Street near the project's driveway (illustrated in exhibit 3 of the staff report). The applicant estimated the entitlement-to-construction schedule at roughly 3–4 months for plan check and utility/easement work and an additional 4–5 months for construction, subject to plan-check and permitting timelines. The developer said the store will remain open during construction and that the addition could create some unspecified additional on-site jobs.

Deliberations were brief. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about wildlife (roosting owls and bats were mentioned in earlier materials), CEQA mitigation measures and parapet screening; staff confirmed there were no new or unaddressed environmental impacts and that standard permitting and plan-check steps will enforce screening and mitigation requirements.

A motion to approve the staff-recommended resolution carried unanimously. The record shows commissioners voting yes: Commissioner Santos; Commissioner Ortiz; Commissioner Frums; and Chairperson Vergardo. The motion's maker and seconder were not specified on the record. The resolution conditionally approving PRD240016 requires the lot merger, landscaping and the other standard conditions noted in the staff report; final palm species and placement will be approved by the Community Development director and rooftop equipment screening will be enforced at plan check.

Next steps: the applicant must complete a lot merger, submit building permits and pass plan-check review. Community Development staff will verify parapet and rooftop equipment screening, landscaping and mitigation compliance through the building-permit and mitigation-monitoring processes before construction begins.