Norwalk council declines to rewrite C2 zoning for online-only retailers; owner told storefront or rezoning paths available

At a Feb. 20 council work session, the owner of the former Fairway building asked the council to allow online-only retail businesses in C2 commercial districts without a storefront. Staff and councilors said the current code treats exclusive online sales with substantial storage and shipping as warehousing — a use excluded in the C2 district — and that a zoning change would raise spot-zoning and comprehensive-plan concerns.

Blake Schultz, who identified himself and his address and said he owns the old Fairway building, told council he sought a permit to use the entire structure for his online business and had encountered obstacles because the use has no walk-in storefront. "I just wanted to get the permit to use the whole entire building," Schultz said. He said he had obtained permits for office and product storage but was told the use would not be allowed in C2 because staff treats the primary activity as warehousing.

Luke (city development staff) told council that the zoning code does not specifically reference "internet sales" but does define warehousing, which he said fits the owner’s proposed operation: "This is a form of warehousing, receiving orders and storing property we send out, for online sales." He added that city code currently allows commercial uses that have incidental storage, but not primary warehousing without walk-in retail customers.

Council discussion and outcome: Council members expressed concern about the economic impacts of allowing warehouse-style uses in a district designed to draw shoppers. Several councilmembers said they prefer to encourage businesses that generate walk-in traffic to support adjacent retail. The council did not direct staff to draft an ordinance to change C2 to permit internet-only operations. Instead the council identified two practical alternatives: - The property owner may build a legitimate storefront (a configuration staff and council said would fit the current C2 rules) and obtain occupancy for that commercial use; or - The property owner may pursue a formal rezoning request through the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) and the comprehensive plan amendment process if required.

Councilmember Brown said he favored considering a citywide restriction on internet-only uses in C2 districts; councilmember Cool and others noted warehousing definitions and spot-zoning risks. Luke explained the rezoning process and that if a rezoning is not consistent with the comprehensive plan, the owner would need a plan amendment as well. Councilmember Meineke said staff and owner should try to find an approach that accommodates investment without harming neighboring businesses.

Staff and owner follow-up: Staff told the owner a pragmatic path was to move forward with installing a storefront and working with development staff on occupancy and configuration that meets the intent of C2; staff also said council could initiate a rezoning review but indicated there was no council appetite to change the ordinance citywide that night.

Ending: The council left the code unchanged for now and encouraged the owner and staff to pursue solutions that preserve customer traffic in the retail district while accommodating viable new investment.