Flower Mound residents shopping for a used car won’t need to leave town in the future.
The folks from Public Auto Brokers, currently located at 1425 Justin Road (FM 407) in Lewisville, have plans to develop 8.93-acres on the south side of Justin Road just east of Stone Hill Farm Parkway inside Flower Mound (Map).
Since 1993, the zoning has been Commercial 2 (C-2); which includes a car dealership as an allowed use.
On the same side of the road, between Long Prairie Road (FM 2499) and the proposed dealership, is a stretch of vehicle-related businesses: Pro Care Collision, Speedy Bee Express Wash, Celebrity Car Wash and Maintenance Center, Discount Tire Store, RaceTrac Gas, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Christian Brothers Automotive, NTB National Tire and Battery, plus O’Reilly Auto Parts.
Concerns from residents living behind the proposed dealership in the Stone Hills Farms development included: possibility of increased crime; increased traffic from test-drives; light “pollution” at night; the aesthetic view from the southern approach; and, devaluation of the homeowner’s property.
Of the three-lot replat request, the 5.3-acre Lot 2R will be developed as a car dealership with a 20,160-square-foot single-story building with parking, outdoor display, landscaping and detention.
The site plan depicts all of the 81 required parking spaces for the car sales and service use calculated at the ratio of one space for every 250 square feet of the facility. The site plan also depicts 289 display parking spaces along the frontage of Justin Road and along the east and south side of the proposed building.
An approximate 50-foot strip of Lot 3R to the south of the proposed car lot and another 50 feet of right-of-way for Stone Bend Lane separate the site from the Stone Hill Farms residential neighborhood.
As required by PD-43, a 10-foot landscape easement on the residential side is owned and maintained by the Stone Hill Farms Homeowner’s Association (HOA).
HOA President Edwena Potter said there is an agreement with the applicant for a landscaping buffer. Public Auto Brokers has agreed to pay $9,512 for the landscaping by Smith Lawn and Tree to install approximately 27 wax myrtles—an evergreen alternative to crepe myrtles– and irrigation to cover the gaps between existing trees within the 10-foot landscape easement.
“The majority of vehicles are driven-in from either auctions or other dealerships, not large auto carriers,” said applicant Paul Bosco, Jr., of Public Auto Brokers. He added that dealership employees could direct test-drives away from the existing neighborhood.
“You do have the responsibility to be a good neighbor and the landscaping addresses that,” said P&Z Vice-Chair Perfecto Solis. “But, the light pollution is of concern to me.”
Speaking for the applicant, Steve Homeyer of Homeyer Engineering said that evening light-pollution can be decreased by turning off or lowering lights.
“The reality of the situation is that since 1993, this was one of the uses it was zoned for,” said Solis.
P&Z chairman Claudio Forest added: “This is a permitted use. They’re not asking for any exemptions, and it fits what the master plan intended.”
The request passed unanimously.
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