Palmetto seeks to put the brakes on automotive-related businesses in downtown

PALMETTO -- Palmetto officials have scheduled an April 18 public hearing for an emergency ordinance placing a moratorium on any further developments of automotive repair businesses in the downtown core.

The ordinance would stop service stations and auto repair businesses from building or expanding until April 2017. It would have no impact on existing businesses, unless those businesses sold or shut down, at which time the moratorium would stop a new owner from operating a similar business.

City planner Debra Woithe said the ordinance would apply to any gas stations and auto repair businesses that store and repair vehicles. While it will not immediately stop a potential gas station/convenience store business, Public Works Director Allen Tusing said it's something the city needs to consider adding in the near future.

"This ordinance is for protecting the downtown core," said Tusing. "We are asking for this moratorium so we can have time to discuss what we want to see in the downtown. The comprehensive plan refers to the downtown as being more pedestrian friendly and a walkable community. When we do things that are more associated with vehicles, we are doing something counter to the comprehensive plan."

Tusing said by enacting a moratorium, certain allowable uses are put on hold until the commission and staff have more time to define a downtown plan. Debra Woithe said the issue arose when it came to the interpretation of open storage and how it relates to service stations.

"Some of the things we have been grappling with is how many of these vehicles might they have at one time? What's a reasonable amount of time for the vehicles to be there? What kind of condition are they in? Clearly we do not want an open industrial looking lot downtown," she said.

City Attorney Mark Barnebey said it's a temporary fix to a broader problem and the moratorium, "can be shrunk, or broadened and you may want to look at other things."

The proposed boundaries are east to the CSX Railroad tracks, south to the Manatee River, west to 11th Avenue West and north to 10th Street West.

Tusing said the goal is not to do a "massive rezone" of the downtown core, but "make some changes in zoning classifications and determine them based on downtown development for the type of businesses we've heard for years that the city wants. We want to freeze time until we've had time as staff to bring to you how far you want to go. But for sure, we don't auto repair service stations in the downtown core when we are trying to create residential over the top of businesses. That's the direction everyone has said they want to go."

Ward 3 Commissioner Brian Williams said there has been discussion on the downtown design, but no decision has ever been made.

"This is an old town with growing pains," said Williams. "We are trying to make our growth work into a pattern we really haven't decided yet. I think it will be difficult to get there unless we start seeing a lot of properties start changing hands."

Ward 2 Commissioner Tambra Varnadore said the ordinance doesn't go far enough. She said, "It's a first start and I think we need to be more aggressive. We've been surprised in the past when businesses open in certain locations and we all ask 'How did that happen?' Well, the zoning says they can."

Tusing noted that the borders may change as staff and the commission delve deeper into the downtown design.

"We are going to hold where we are for a year while we have time to have these discussions," said Tusing. "We just need to get the buy-in to protect that core area for a year's time. The borders could shrink or expand. There's no telling until we get done planning."

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter @urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Palmetto seeks to put the brakes on automotive-related businesses in downtown ."