Derby BZA approves temporary exception to allow gravel lot for vehicle sales at 2430 N. Nelson Dr.

The City of Derby Board of Zoning Appeals on Feb. 6, 2025, adopted a resolution allowing a gravel parking and display area for vehicle sales at 2430 North Nelson Drive, voting 9-1 to grant a temporary exception to the city’s paving requirement for vehicle-sale lots.

City staff said the one-year exception — renewable through the city’s annual business-registration process — is intended to allow the business to operate while the K‑15 area road improvements and broader redevelopment envisioned in the K‑15 Area Plan proceed. Everett Haynes, assistant city planner, told the board the property lost its prior “nonconforming” status after a registered business on the site was not active for more than 10 years; the most recent registered business on the property appeared in 2015.

Haynes told the board the property has been a gravel lot since the 1980s and said strict compliance (paving) would impose a heavy financial burden because future redevelopment tied to the city’s K‑15 improvements…