Brownsburg BZA approves golf cart and trailer sales at 645 North Green Street with conditions

The Town of Brownsburg Board of Zoning Appeals on Jan. 12 approved a special exception allowing golf cart and trailer sales and light repair at 645 North Green Street, conditioned on staff recommendations and additional commitments from the applicant.

Staff presented the proposal and recommended denial, citing inconsistency with parts of the Brownsburg comprehensive plan and the property’s location in the Groundwater Protection Overlay District. “Staff is recommending denial,” Kevin (staff) told the board, while outlining the five special-exception criteria and proposed mitigation measures that would be required if the board approved the request.

The applicant and property owner argued the use fits the C3 zoning designation and would address an underserved market. “We want to be in Brownsburg,” said Ryan Tansil, the applicant’s representative, describing a two-year lease for the 1.46-acre site and the applicant’s regional ties to motorsports customers. Owner Cindy Elliott described the business’s existing operations and product mix, including both electric and gas golf carts and boxed trailers ranging up to 44 feet.

During a public hearing and board Q&A, members pressed staff and the applicant on compatibility with the comprehensive plan’s future land-use map, whether displayed carts and trailers would count as outdoor storage, buffering and landscaping standards, parking and drive-aisle requirements, and environmental safeguards because the site sits within the groundwater overlay. Staff stated carts and trailers are not considered outdoor storage under the UDO and recommended that any approval include conditions to protect groundwater and limit outdoor activities that could affect it.

Board members and counsel negotiated several additional written conditions on the record that would accompany any approval: submission and staff review of a site plan showing customer parking, trailer and golf cart storage and landscaping; a landscape plan (staff suggested a minimum of five shrubs per 100 linear feet of frontage, with limited tree plantings where feasible); parking to be striped and provided at a minimum of 2.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area; a drive aisle meeting town standards; submission of a written outline of proposed fuel, oil and battery handling practices for wastewater/groundwater staff review; and a written commitment that if the use is discontinued for 12 continuous months the special exception will expire (separate from the general 36-month expiration if construction or commitments are not completed).

With those conditions on the record, Member Brett moved to approve BZSE-25-2645 (645 N. Green St.) subject to the staff recommendations and the additional written commitments; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The board did not record a roll-call vote or individual tallies in the transcript; the chair announced the motion carried.

The approval allows the applicant to operate golf cart and trailer sales and light service at the site provided the conditions are satisfied and required site plans and environmental practice documents are submitted for staff and wastewater review. The public hearing was closed at 7:07 p.m.; the board then handled miscellaneous business and adjourned.

The applicant will submit the landscape plan, environmental practices documentation and the detailed site plan to staff for administrative review and wastewater evaluation, and the special-exception approval is conditioned on those deliverables and the 12-month inactivity expiration commitment.