ThisWeek CW 10/13/2011
Bob McDorman Chevrolet is going to see more changes than just its name in the near future.
Representatives of the car dealership, which was recently renamed Jeff Wyler Chevrolet after its new owner, applied for a zoning amendment that would modify the dealership’s two lots to be considered exceptional use rather than general-commercial use. Members of the planning and zoning commission unanimously approved the request Oct. 10. It will go before city council next month.
The new zoning designation will allow the dealer to expand into two brands.
Development director Lucas Haire said he has seen plans for new buildings and for a future new car brand dealership, but that those plans haven’t been formally submitted yet.
“This is going to be continued as an auto dealership, and we have plans to expand into an additional dealership with that back property as part of the process,” said Bob McDorman Real Estate legal representative Dan Utt of the Mountain Agency.
“We need to do immediate changes, including enlarging the front to meet GM requirements. In the process of buying the dealership, we determined we had an inconsistency with the dealership not falling into the general-use zoning. We met with (Dutton and Haire) to resolve the issue, because we didn’t want any questions.”
Utt provided an overview drawing of the future development plans.
“The future development plan enlarges the body shop in the rear of the property and then ultimately we’ll have an additional dealership on the rear end of the property,” Utt said. “We’ve talked with your city about the Gender Road construction to coordinate all of this work with that work.”
Utt would not comment on which new car dealership would occupy the rear of the property.
“We believe this expansion will be an enhancement to the property and will bring several employment opportunities here,” Utt said. “Mr. Wyler is excited about expanding in this Columbus area location.”
Planning and zoning commission administrator Andrew Dutton said the zoning designation needs to be changed because of an oversight in the 1990s.
“In 1990 there was a code review done where significant changes were made. The current code from 1990 reflects that we are missing a section for car dealerships,” Dutton said. “General commercial puts limits on expansion but aren’t specific to car dealerships since they’re not mentioned.
“We have the exceptional-use zoning, though that allows other legal uses that are unique or exceptional but are still considered acceptable,” he said. “I’m not sure why dealerships were overlooked 21 years ago, but this is how we can do it now.”
In other business, the commissioners unanimously approved three parking related zoning variances for a project to demolish and rebuild the Gender Road McDonald’s.
The next planning and zoning commission meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, at Town Hall, 10 N. High St.