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Avon Planning Commission approves towing and vehicle-storage use at 165 Thompson Road
Summary
The Avon Planning and Zoning Commission approved special-exception and site-plan applications for towing and related automotive uses at 165 Thompson Road, allowing indoor vehicle storage and a limited outdoor fenced area subject to five conditions including a required landscape and screening plan prior to fence installation.
The Avon Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 28 approved Special Exception and site-plan applications (Apps #5057 and #5058) to permit towing and automotive-related uses at 165 Thompson Road (Parcel 4320165) in the town’s I zoning district. The motion, as amended, passed with recorded approval from Chair Lisa Levin, Commissioners Robin Baran, Peter Mahoney, Christine Graesser, Jamie DiPace and Chris White (6–0).
Applicant Christopher Kelly and owner Blazej Zajaczkowski told commissioners the operation will be small and primarily on-call towing with vehicle storage and recovery. “Initially the plan is to start with 2 tow trucks (a flat bed and a wrecker),” Kelly said, and he said he plans to seek a dealer’s license to auction vehicles that are not claimed. Kelly told the commission he intends to sign up with AAA and insurance companies and to coordinate with emergency town personnel.
Commissioners and the applicant discussed site controls and environmental safeguards. The existing building was described as large, with 10 bays capable of holding about three to six vehicles per bay; outdoor storage was proposed only if state requirements make it necessary. Kelly said fluids from stored vehicles kept inside the building would be drained into containment pans and collected by a certified vendor. The commission’s approval permits an unlit chain-link fenced area with privacy inserts at the location shown on the site plan for temporary storage of roughly 10–20 vehicles, but it added a requirement that a landscape and screening plan be submitted to planning staff and approved by the commission before any fence is installed.
Staff planning comments and the commission’s conditions prohibit structural or exterior changes as part of this approval and bar additional exterior lighting that would trespass off the property. Hiram Peck, director of Planning and Community Development, noted that the site is set down from the road and not highly visible; he told commissioners no building- or lighting-alteration applications are included in the current approvals. Public comment on the application was nil during the hearing.
