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Grants Pass council reverses planning commission, approves car lot site changes
Summary
Council reversed the Urban Area Planning Commission and approved a revised site plan for Bowman's Choice Auto at 899 Rogue River Highway, concluding the disputed relocation of a parking-lot planter and buffer reduction were acceptable on this small, unusual parcel.
The Grants Pass City Council voted unanimously Nov. 19 to reverse the Urban Area Planning Commission’s decision and approve a revised site plan for Bowman's Choice Auto at 899 Rogue River Highway. The action allows the applicant to relocate a parking-lot planter and alter the landscape buffer adjacent to nearby residential property.
City Attorney Stephanie Nottle opened the hearing with a summary of the file and the limited scope of council review: two landscaping changes had previously been approved by the community development director, while the relocation of a planter and a reduced landscape buffer were denied and later affirmed by the UAPC. Bradley Clark, community development director, told the council that the development code requires planter islands large enough to accommodate trees and that the smallest dimension identified in the parking-lot standards is 4 by 6 feet; he said a 4-foot-diameter planter proposed by the applicant “will not accommodate a tree.”
Applicant Jonathan Graham Bowman said the parcel is an unusual, largely paved car lot and showroom and argued that the proposed changes are modest and necessary for vehicle access and display. “This is a very unique piece of property,” Bowman said, describing the site as partially below grade and not clearly visible from Rogue River Highway.
Council members who visited the site described it as an odd-shaped parcel with limited pedestrian use. Several members said they were persuaded by the site’s constraints and the business investment. Councilor Seth moved to reverse the UAPC decision; the motion carried on a roll-call vote with all councilors present voting yes.
The reversal allows the applicant to proceed with the revised site plan subject to any conditions the council or staff included in the approval. The council’s action closes a multi-year file that began with a 2022 building permit and returned after a 2025 revised site plan and a denial of some of the revisions by the planning director.
