TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Beth Beatty, City Manager
SUBJECT:
title
Ordinance Approving a Special Use Permit to Allow a Truck and Trailer Repair Facility, Located at 804 E. Cass Street (ZBA 2024-28)
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BACKGROUND:
The petitioner, Edvardas Kazlauskas, is requesting a Special Use Permit to allow a truck and trailer repair facility for EMT Truck Repair within the existing industrial building at 804 E. Cass Street. EMT Truck Repair performs general repair and maintenance on semi-trucks and trailers. The business has three employees and contracts with approximately four regional trucking companies to perform repair services on their fleets. The business is not open to the public. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8 AM to 5 PM.
The 1.6-acre subject site, which is zoned I-1 (light industrial), is located at the southwest corner of Cass Street and Bissell Street and contains a brick industrial building with three tenant spaces. EMT Truck Repair occupies the 11,000-square-foot western tenant space at 804 E. Cass Street. The interior contains a repair shop with 5 to 6 service bays and office space. The eastern tenant spaces at 111 and 113 Bissell Street are occupied by a tire repair facility (Krono’s Tire Shop) and one other tenant. Krono’s received approval of a Special Use Permit for a tire facility in 2012 and has its own dedicated parking on the east side of the building along Bissell Street. The site contains an asphalt parking area on the south side of the building that is accessed off Bissell Street and can hold approximately 15 trucks with trailers and 6 passenger cars. The two Bissell Street tenants use only 3 trailer spaces within the onsite parking lot. The trucking companies served by EMT drop off and pick up their trucks from the site’s parking area via Bissell Street.
EMT Truck Repair has been at this location for around three years. The owners were recently notified by the City’s Business Services Division that they would need a business license with the City as well as a Special Use Permit to operate a repair facility. As part of the business license approval, the building will be inspected for compliance with building codes related to vehicle repair facilities. As a condition of the Special Use Permit, the parking lot will need to be repaired where needed.
The uses surrounding the subject property are all zoned I-1 (light industrial) and include a used car dealership, a cell tower, an appliance resale store, a contractor yard, and a vacant industrial building. Prior to EMT Truck Repair, 804 E. Cass Street was occupied for around 20 years by Jason Mechanical Corp., a mechanical systems contractor. Historically, the site contained manufacturing uses since its initial development in the 1920s through the 1980s.
The Economic Development Director has reviewed this request and is not opposed to it.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING:
The Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing on this matter on June 20, 2024. Edvardas Kazlauskas, petitioner and business owner, represented the petition. One person appeared in opposition to the petition. Meeting minutes are attached.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS:
recommendation
Ralph Bias moved that the Zoning Board of Appeals recommend approval of the Special Use Permit request to allow a truck and trailer repair facility at 804 E. Cass Street, subject to the following conditions:
1. That the parking lot shall be repaired as needed.
2. That a City business license shall be obtained.
3. That the Special Use granted shall herein terminate and lapse unless a building permit or certificate of occupancy is obtained not later than 180 days of the effective date of this ordinance and the erection or alteration of a building is started or the use is commenced within such period. The Board may grant an extension of this period, valid for no more than one hundred and eighty (180) additional days, upon written application and good cause shown without notice or hearing. Whether or not there is an intention to abandon the Special Use, if any special use is discontinued for a continuous period of one year, or if an intent to abandon the Special Use is evident in a shorter period of time, the Special Use for such use shall become void, and such use shall not thereafter be reestablished unless a new Special Use Permit is obtained.
4. Should the property be declared a public nuisance, it shall be subject to a rehearing and a possible revocation of the Special Use Permit.
Bob Nachtrieb seconded the motion, which passed with four (4) aye votes and no nay votes. Voting aye were: Riggs, Nachtrieb, Alessio, and Bias. Voting nay were: none. Absent were: Roehr and Hennessy.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
The Administration concurs with the recommendation of the Zoning Board of Appeals and recommends that the Mayor and City Council adopt an Ordinance approving the Special Use Permit to allow a truck and trailer repair facility at 804 E. Cass Street, subject to the same conditions approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals above.
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