SU-2005-04:
Public Hearing on an application for Special Use to establish a Used
Automobile Sales Facility in the B-5 Highway Business District located at 1611 W. Ledgerwood Drive.
Les
Mangus explained the proposed special use to allow the sale of used cars at
the Wholesale Fireworks building is the result of the owner’s desire to
relocate a wholesale used car business to office space in the building.
Chairman
Nelson asked if anyone in the audience wished to speak on this issue. Debie
Bush of 726 S. 159th Street East stated she is the developer of
Cottonwood Point and is opposed to this special use. Chairman Nelson apologized
and asked for anyone in favor of this application to come to the podium.
Shane
Krehbiel of E & K Investments LLC and the applicant, approached the
podium. He thinks this car lot if approved, would bring revenue into Andover. He said his father owns the Wholesale Fireworks building. Mr. Krehbiel said the
car lot would be kept clean and nice.
Clark
Nelson asked Shane Krehbiel for more
details about his business. Mr. Krehbiel said he intends to sell cars at this
location. Clark Nelson asked if he intended to have the cars parked between
the building and Kellogg. Shane said yes he did. Clark asked how many autos
would be on site at any one time. Shane said between 20 and 40 maximum. There
was discussion about Shane Krehbiel’s work history and he currently has a used
car business on South Broadway in Wichita. Clark Nelson asked Shane Krehbiel
if he knew the parking requirement for the Wholesale Fireworks business.
Shane did not know but he estimated 100 existing parking spaces with 15 of
the spaces in the front of the property. Clark Nelson asked Les to research
this.
Clark asked about the type of vehicles to be sold on this
property. Shane said they would be nice SUV’s, 4 wheel drive, and foreign
cars.
Lynn
Heath asked if this would be a retail car lot like Lubber’s or a wholesale
business. Shane Krehbiel said he has a wholesale license and plans to sell
both. He said during bad weather, he would bring 20- 30 cars into the
building for display.
Jeff
Syrios asked about the price range of the vehicles to be sold. Shane Krehbiel
said from $3,995 to $30,000.
Charlotte
Bass asked about parking lot lighting running over into the neighborhood.
Shane Krehbiel said the business would only be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. He
did say there is an existing flood light in the rear of the building and a
motion detector would be added if his car lot is approved.
Quentin
Coon asked if there would be any zoning changes for this property. Shane
Krehbiel said no.
Jan
Cox asked if the car lot would be open on Sundays. Shane Krehbiel said he is
not sure yet but his lot in Wichita is open on Sundays.
Jeff
Syrios asked about the current use of the Wholesale Fireworks building. Shane
Krehbiel said his father’s main office is in that building and it is rented
out for various events and parties. Jeff Syrios also asked how many cars
could be stored inside the building. Shane Krehbiel said 20 to 30.
Jan
Cox asked who buys his cars at wholesale. Shane Krehbiel said he sells them
to dealerships in Wichita and surrounding areas.
Clark
Nelson asked if the permit was
restricted to inside the building sales only, what would that do to the
business. Shane Krehbiel said he would have to discuss that with his father.
Clark
Nelson asked if anyone else wished to
speak in favor of this application. Seeing none, he asked for anyone in
opposition to approach the podium.
Debie
Bush of 726 S. 159th Street East stated she is the developer of
Cottonwood Point and is opposed to this special use. She made several points.
ü Lot is 290’ wide and
500’ deep.
ü Jan. 2001- special use application for Wholesale
Fireworks. Restrictions placed: 1. Outdoor storage defined by the zoning
regulations of Andover is not allowed within 100’ of the rear of the property.
2. Hours of operation are limited to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 2
a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. 3. Fireworks are prohibited at this location
without a temporary use permit approved by the City Council.
Debie
Bush continued to explain that RV’s are being stored from the beginning of Ledgerwood Drive all the way to the back fence. She believes this is a violation of the
existing special use permit. She thinks a used car lot would not be
compatible with the existing use of this property. She cited special uses for
B-5 and B-6 zoning districts. She does not believe the approval of this
special use would be compatible with the Comprehensive Plan for the City of Andover. She said the current restrictions are not being enforced by the city and she does
not have faith that the city will enforce restrictions placed on a used car
lot either. She said the parking lot surface is in poor condition and the
parking lighting is not contained to the property. The paint is fading on the
existing Wholesale Fireworks building, the chain link fence in the back of
the property is down, and the wooden fence has not been maintained. She does
not believe the approval of this application will be in the best interest of the
City of Andover.
Clark
Nelson disagreed to her statement that
this application would not comply with the Comprehensive Plan. He asked Debie
Bush if it would help for the car lot to be restricted to display only being
between the building and Ledgerwood Drive and for storage to be on the
interior of the building only. Debie explained this existing building is
rented out every weekend for various events and she does not believe the
parking lot requirements are being complied with.
Chairman
Nelson asked if anyone else wished to speak on this matter.
Annie
Vaugh from 622 S. Haney North Court said she has witnessed several noisy
parties being held at the Wholesale Fireworks building. She also complained
about the parking lot lights being left on all night. She said the haunted
house event is a major noise annoyance to the neighbors. She does not want to
have a used car lot next to her neighborhood.
Kristi
Cole of 609 S. Wren Field Dr. said she is also in opposition of this
application. She said the noise, traffic problems from the weekend parties, parking
lot lighting, broken fencing, and lack of consistent mowing of the property
are her reasons for opposition. She suggested a tall concrete fence for the
rear of the property to protect the neighborhood. She further explained her
concern for her property value with an un-maintained commercial property next
to it. Clark Nelson asked if the Wholesale Fireworks building existed when
she purchased her home. She said the building was there before she purchased
her home.
Rhonda
Peake of 608 S. Wren Field Drive stated the fence of this car lot would run
along her backyard. She originally thought this building was only used during
the July 4th holiday and has since been annoyed by the wild
parties, loud music, and trash from them ending up in her yard. She further
stated her opposition to this application by restating the previous
complaints and added she has a drainage problem caused from this commercial
property. She is afraid of the clientele from these parties and said he
continues to have items stolen from her property. Clark Nelson said very
little of this special use application was related to her complaints.
Jeff
Syrios asked if the car lot use might make the situation better for this
neighborhood. Rhonda Peake said not if the other uses were allowed to
continue.
Shane
Krehbiel returned to the podium to reply to the complaints. He said he has no
control over the uses of Wholesale Fireworks. He promised there would be no
more trash behind the building, and he will fix the fences. He said there
would not be as many parties going on around his car lot because he does not
want his cars damaged. He also promised to have flowers on the lot like the
ones at his Wichita business.
The
discussion continued between Mr. Krehbiel and the neighbors. Clark Nelson clarified the fact there is a sub-lease between father and son.
Shane
Krehbiel continued to defend the other car lots he owns stating they are
small but well maintained. The discussion continued between Mr. Krehbiel and
the neighbors.
Clark
Nelson asked Shane Krehbiel if he
would agree to run the used car facility completely inside the building with
no outside storage. Shane Krehbiel said that would be impossible.
Jan
Cox asked how many business operators are in this building. Shane Krehbiel
said this was supposed to be the last year for the haunted house.
Jeff
Bridges stated Catholic Charities have already asked to come back next year.
Shane said the 2 operators in the building would be Wholesale Fireworks and K
& S Motors.
Jan
asked if the car lot can co-exist with the weekend parties. Shane said they
could not.
Clark
Nelson asked if Shane was prepared to
make that a condition of the approval of the special use. Shane said he would
have to discuss it with his father first. Shane said the parties could be
moved to one of the other Wholesale Fireworks buildings in another city.
Kristi
Cole of 609 S. Wren Field Dr. returned to the podium to ask if a site plan
would be required for Commission and neighborhood assurance of what the
facility would look like.
Shane
Krehbiel stated again this business will be well maintained. Clark Nelson asked if anyone had a new question for the applicant. Hearing none, he closed the
Public Hearing at 8:00 p.m.
Les
Mangus presented the parking lot calculations. He said the property used by
Flint Hills RV for display has been used since the early 90’s. Originally E
& K Investments owned only the west 260’ where the existing Wholesale
Fireworks building is. Some time between the early 90’s and now they acquired
an additional 130’ from Flint Hills RV which they used during the fireworks
season to make up the parking for the fireworks use. The site plan approved
for the fireworks use shows 247 parking spaces available when they have use
of the entire 390’ of property. The remainder of the year, the building is
used for an office and exhibition assembly building; there are only 70
parking spaces. The open display area rented out is 10,000 square feet and
could house 667 people by building code calculations. And would require 167
parking spaces. If the property is used for a car lot, parking would not be
adequate for the assembly use of the building at the same time. The B-5
Highway Business District permitted uses would generate lots of traffic 7
days a week, 24 hours a day. Les said the problem is between the assembly use
and the used car lot. He does not think the 2 could co-exist without
regulating the number of used cars on site.
Clark
Nelson said it will be difficult for
the Planning Commission to make a decision without further information.
Quentin
Coon asked for the difference between this special use request and B-6
zoning. Les Mangus said the B-6 would bring other things such as office
warehouse and industrial uses the neighbors would not like. B-6 zoning would
not allow the Commission to place conditions shy of a Protective Overlay
District.
Clark
Nelson began the review of the
Rezoning Report:
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