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Davenport council leans to treating wholesale uses in C‑3 as special uses, asks staff to draft rules
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Summary
City staff presented a petitioner‑initiated proposal to permit wholesale businesses in the C‑3 zoning district and outlined four options; council members signaled they favor changing wholesale to a special use with clearer guidance to the Zoning Board of Adjustment and asked staff to return draft language for the March 4 third consideration.
Davenport City staff presented a petitioner‑initiated amendment aimed at allowing wholesale establishments as a use in the city’s C‑3 zoning district and described four options for council consideration. The council signaled a preference for converting wholesale to a special use and asked staff to draft guidance and possible exemptions before the matter returns for third consideration on March 4.
Director Laura Berkeley told the council the petition — submitted Sept. 19 by a landowner listed in the packet as Thad Din Hartog and represented by attorney Mr. Pasternak — seeks to allow wholesale establishments in C‑3. Berkeley described proposed principal‑use standards that would apply where wholesale is permitted, including restrictions on dust, odors, noise and outdoor storage behind solid fencing, and noted staff had prepared four procedural options: (1) approve the change as proposed; (2) move wholesale to special‑use status (so each case receives Zoning Board of Adjustment review); (3) make wholesale a special use but exempt certain lower‑risk NAICS categories from the special‑use requirement; or (4) keep wholesale permitted but amend principal‑use standards to prohibit specific high‑risk categories.
Staff recommended option 2 as the route giving the most oversight with flexibility. Berkeley said staff’s initial review identified a small subset of NAICS subcodes that merit special attention — farm products (NAICS 42.45), chemical and allied products including plastics/explosives (NAICS 42.46), petroleum and petroleum products including liquefied petroleum gas (NAICS 42.47), and categories that include paints and varnishes (NAICS 42.49) — while noting some codes (agents/brokers/offices) are effectively office uses, not material storage.
Several aldermen expressed support for option 2 but asked for clearer guardrails. "I also am inclined to look at option 2," Alderman Holloway said, adding she would feel more comfortable if the council specified certain categories that must remain special use rather than leaving the full set of C‑3 wholesale categories undefined. Other council members said they would consider option 3 — a hybrid that lists permitted wholesale types while sending all others to ZBA — if staff and council can agree on a short, defensible list of exemptions.
Council members also discussed process and enforcement. Staff noted the Zoning Board of Adjustment meets twice monthly and that a typical application timeline from submittal to hearing is about three weeks; staff said special‑use decisions can be appealed to court and, if conditions are violated, permits can be revoked. Berkeley said the city can provide a policy resolution to guide ZBA decisions, and council indicated interest in drafting such guidance so ZBA has clearer direction from elected officials.
No formal vote was taken at the session. The council asked staff to prepare draft amendment language and an accompanying resolution or guidance for ZBA review and to return the ordinance for third consideration on March 4. The petitioner may proceed with applicable ZBA or permit steps only after the city’s regulatory status for wholesale in C‑3 is clarified.
What happens next: staff will draft potential ordinance language and a policy/resolution to guide ZBA consideration; the city council will consider amendments at its March 4 meeting (third consideration) and may request further public hearings or readings depending on the scope of any changes.
