Greene County planning panel recommends special-use permit for Ford Avenue auto shop with conditions

The Greene County Planning Commission voted on Aug. 20 to recommend approval of a special-use permit for a home-based auto repair shop and limited vehicle sales at 1183 Ford Avenue, sending the matter to the Board of Supervisors with a set of mitigating conditions.

The commission’s recommendation covers SUP-25-003, for a property identified in the record as TMP 27-A-70A and zoned R-1 residential. County staff told the commission that the SUP process is intended to assess impacts such as noise, traffic and buffering rather than personalities, and that a special-use permit ‘‘runs with the property, not with the owner,’’ meaning conditions would bind future owners as well as the applicant.

The hearing produced sharply divided public comment. Neighbors from Little Mountain Estates and adjacent properties said the five-bay garage and proposed resale lot are out of character for an R-1 neighborhood and pointed to a prior Board of Supervisors denial. ‘‘On April 8, the Greene County Board of Supervisors unanimously denied the exact application with a 5 to 0 vote,’’ one resident said, urging the commission to respect that earlier decision. Several speakers described potential impacts on privacy, property values and neighborhood character.

Other neighbors, including the homeowner next door, said they have not experienced noise problems and supported the applicant. A local resident who said he has bought parts and equipment from the applicant for years told commissioners he had ‘‘never heard any noise’’ coming from the property.

Health concerns were raised by a resident who said she was diagnosed with stage 1 systemic mastocytosis and warned that exhaust and volatile compounds could trigger severe allergic reactions. ‘‘The potential for that, business to cause me anaphylaxis is very real,’’ she told the commission.

The applicant defended his record and disputed several claims made by opponents, saying he had improved the property and had county officials visit the site. In response to questions, he described proposed hours roughly between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, said he does not expect large truck traffic and said he planned to screen outside vehicles behind a privacy enclosure.

Commissioners asked staff whether any noise measurements had been taken; staff said the county had not performed formal sound-meter readings at the property line. The commission discussed building scale, screening, signage and how to limit the resale component. To address concerns, commissioners negotiated a package of recommended conditions to be included in the SUP language that will go to the Board of Supervisors.

The conditions the commission asked staff to draft and forward include: limiting the structure to the footprint described in the record, requiring the driveway remain paved, restricting business hours to weekdays (8 a.m.–5 p.m.) with no weekend business hours, limiting outside vehicles to no more than five vehicles for sale and five vehicles for repair within a fully enclosed and screened area, prohibiting freestanding road signage, requiring full-cutoff outdoor lighting for the business, and a requirement that only vehicles serviced by the shop may be offered for sale. Commissioners also requested precise, enforceable language about screening and maintenance.

A motion to recommend approval with conditions was made and seconded; the commission recorded a vote in favor and the recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors. Staff noted that the board accepts written comments and may perform site visits before making a final decision.

The next step is the Board of Supervisors’ review; interested parties will be able to submit letters and the board may schedule a site visit prior to a final vote.