Overdrive Autos granted use variance in Clarksville; must hard-surface vehicle inventory area

The Clarksville board approved a use variance for Overdrive Autos to operate a used-car dealership at 1575 Progress Way in an I-1 zone, subject to two conditions: (1) the variance will run with the business and (2) areas where vehicles are stored must be a hard, dustless surface.

Planning staff described the property as roughly 3 acres with a 7,200-square-foot building and said the property historically hosted industrial trailer sales. Staff noted code constraints including required oil-water separators for any drains, fire-apparatus access requirements and a limit of two cars awaiting repair per bay door; with nine bay doors that equates to up to 18 cars awaiting repair at once. "The applicants are not planning any major new development on the site in terms of structures," staff said, and advised the board about development-standards requirements for vehicle storage surfaces.

Applicant Evan Cunliffe said the business has reached capacity at its current location and raised safety concerns for customers and employees crossing Providence Way: "Where we're at, we have completely occupied, to a point of where we are just... we're at our limit." Board members discussed buffering and surfacing; a motion to approve the variance with the stated conditions passed by voice vote. Staff and the board noted that compliance with development standards (paving, screening, oil-water separators where required) will be enforced moving forward.