Commission continues Malone Ford parking and storage expansion after commission raises gateway, landscaping and parking concerns

Commissioners declined to decide on Malone Ford & Power Sports' conditional-use permit for a 2.5-acre employee-parking and inventory-storage lot and instead voted to continue the public hearing to July 6 to allow the applicant to revise landscaping and fencing materials and to clarify parking calculations.

Community development director Brian Parker told commissioners that the proposal would add 60 employee parking stalls, add a 6-foot slotted chain-link fence with slats and plant Armstrong maples and other landscaping to screen the site. Parker also noted the approved plans for the existing site showed 227 stalls while code-based requirements suggested a much higher number; "They were they required 360 parking spaces," Parker said during his presentation. Commissioners expressed concern that the proposed chain-link fence and expanse of asphalt would conflict with the city’s gateway and community-design goals and asked the applicant to provide more evergreen screening and to revisit fence materials and spacing. A motion to continue the hearing to July 6 passed so the applicant could return with revisions.