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Lancaster council approves comp-plan and rezoning for 2619 Bellamy but bars on-site paint booth
Summary
The council approved a comprehensive-plan amendment and rezoning for 2619 Bellamy Avenue to reflect existing auto-related uses but voted to prohibit an on-site paint booth after staff said one had been installed without permits. The decision followed testimony from the owner and a paint-booth supplier about the booth’s limited, spot-paint function.
The Lancaster City Council on June 8 approved a comprehensive-plan amendment and rezoning for a 3.17-acre site at 2619 Bellamy Avenue, allowing a planned development to formalize existing auto-related uses while adding conditions that bar an on-site paint booth.
City staff told the council the property is currently developed with auto-related uses and that the comp-plan amendment and companion rezoning would align the future-land-use map with the site’s existing use. The staff presentation noted a stop-work order issued in June 2025 after an unpermitted paint booth was discovered on the site and recommended approval of the zoning change while prohibiting paint booths because the city could not guarantee long-term control over how the equipment would be used.
The property owner, Khalid Bakri, told the council he believed a prior paint booth had been permitted years earlier and said he upgraded the booth because it is a high-end system used primarily for small spot repairs after hail damage. “We have already spent $250,000 on that paint booth and it is in place,” Bakri said. He said the business performs paintless dent repair and that spot painting is sometimes necessary.
Majid Kallof, the applicant’s representative, said the booth is a closed, indoor container intended only for limited hail-damage work and argued the improvements return the site to code. Donnie Montgomery, who installs paint booths, told the council the unit is a full-sized automotive booth with room to work but described it as configured for limited spot painting in the applicant’s plan.
City staff and the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended conditions such as prohibiting outdoor storage of vehicles or parts, requiring resurfaced and restriped parking, and limiting repairs to the site owner; staff added that a paint booth should be prohibited because there is no reliable way to police future use and because a booth had been installed without proper permits.
Council debate centered on balancing property-owner investment and compliance with the city’s long-term vision for the corridor. An initial motion to approve the rezoning with a paint booth included failed on a tied vote. Council then voted to approve the rezoning and related conditions while explicitly prohibiting the use or installation of a paint booth on the site. The council instructed that, if zoning approval stands, any future activity would require the owner to obtain valid certificates of occupancy and pass all departmental inspections before the booth could be used.
The rezoning and comp-plan amendment take effect following any required administrative steps; the council’s action leaves the paint booth prohibited as a condition of the approval until or unless the council later revisits the matter.
What’s next: The owner must pursue any required permits and inspections; staff said code compliance and building inspections would evaluate the site before any new activity could resume.
