EAST WINDSOR, CT — A used-car dealership rejected by town planners in June is back with a smaller building and fewer repair bays — and the timing could hardly be more pointed.
On the same night the Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to formally receive the revised proposal, it will also receive its own application aimed at limiting where dealerships and automotive repair shops can operate.
Shelby Real Estate LLC is seeking a site plan and special use permit for a 6,000-square-foot building at 122 South Main St. The 2.22-acre property is in the town's TZ-5 zone.
The application describes the project as a used-car dealership. Submitted plans also show three service bays, 19 customer and employee parking spaces and 106 spaces for vehicle display and storage. The parking calculations assign 2,400 square feet of the building to the dealership operation and include additional parking required for an automotive repair facility.
The new building would be 3,600 square feet smaller than the company's previous proposal, which called for a 9,600-square-foot, eight-bay building used for vehicle sales and repairs.
The commission unanimously rejected that application June 23. Before denying the full project, members also voted unanimously against allowing the applicant to reduce a required 100-foot buffer between the commercial property and neighboring residential uses to 50 feet.
Residents of the nearby Meadow View condominium complex raised concerns during two public hearings about noise, traffic, lighting, drainage, fumes, property values and the possibility that individual repair bays could eventually be rented to separate tenants.
Commission members focused heavily on the proposed buffer and the number of vehicles that would be parked near the residential property. The applicant's engineer said at the time that requiring the full 100-foot buffer would make the narrow lot essentially unbuildable.
The dealership is returning as the commission considers broader changes to the town's automotive-use regulations. The draft amendment would remove new- and used-car dealers and repair establishments from the list of allowed uses in the B-2 and TZ-5 zones. Those businesses would remain permitted in the M-1 manufacturing zone.
The proposal would allow existing automotive businesses in the affected zones to continue as legal nonconforming uses, but they could not be expanded.
Commissioners began discussing the restrictions in June, citing the number of repair shops and used-car lots already operating in East Windsor and saying the town's commercial areas need a wider mix of businesses.
Both applications are listed under "receipt of applications" on Tuesday's agenda. No public hearing or vote on either proposal is scheduled that night.
The commission meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Town Hall, 11 Rye St. The meeting will also be available through Zoom.
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