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Council approves conditional use permit for 7 Epic Motors parking expansion with easement, stormwater conditions
Summary
The council unanimously approved a conditional use permit allowing 7 Epic Motors to expand a parking/sales area at 515 W. Buena Vista Boulevard, adding conditions that the applicant secure access easements for adjacent parcels and include stormwater/detention details in construction documents.
Washington City Council approved a conditional use permit on Jan. 8, 2025, allowing 7 Epic Motors to expand vehicle parking and sales at 515 West Buena Vista Boulevard, subject to 15 conditions that include improved landscaping, lighting controls and new requirements added by the council addressing vehicle access and stormwater detention.
City planner Eldon Gibb presented the staff report and recited the Planning Commission’s unanimous recommendation for approval with 13 standard conditions, which included directions that the applicant provide a 10‑foot landscape strip adjacent to Buena Vista Boulevard, asphalt the designated parking area, submit a detailed landscaping plan, and keep the lot orderly and free of inoperable vehicles.
During council discussion several members expressed concern about access between adjacent tax parcels and how vehicles would traverse the land near existing off‑premise advertising signs. The applicant, Ethel Perez Vera, told council the owner (identified in the record as Harry Johnson) controls the parcels adjacent to the site and that the parties have an informal history of sharing the area; she said her business would retain the parking strip by the office and improve the frontage so it is cohesive with the proposed asphalted lot.
Council added two conditions to the Planning Commission’s list before voting: (1) the applicant must obtain or record a formal access easement for any lateral driving route across adjacent parcels that the applicant intends to use for car access and display, and (2) stormwater detention details must be shown on final construction drawings and submitted with the building/utility permits. That amended proposal passed unanimously.
Votes and motion: Councilman Ballston moved to approve the conditional use permit with the additional conditions described above; Councilman Coates seconded. A roll call produced unanimous approval.
What the conditions require: Among the full set of conditions the council approved are (a) all site improvements to meet adopted state and city codes, (b) asphalt surfacing for the vehicle display area, (c) a 10‑foot landscaped strip with live plantings along Buena Vista Boulevard, (d) lighting directed inward, (e) a requirement that no nonoperational vehicles be stored on the lot, (f) that storage containers/sheds not be placed on the property, and (g) approval of any future building/site modifications via conditional use permit. The council’s added conditions require the formal access easement to be granted or recorded before use of any drive path across adjacent parcels for customer/display circulation, and require detention shown on submitted construction drawings.
Next steps: The applicant must supply construction drawings showing drainage/detention, a landscaping plan, and the recorded or written access easement(s) described in the council motion before the city will issue permits to finish the improvements.
