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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

City of Santa Clarita Puts New Auto Retailers On Hold

The city of Santa Clarita has put a hold on permits for incoming automobile retailers while planning officials determine where the sellers should be allowed to conduct business. On Aug. 24, the City Council unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on the issuance of any new permits, licenses, approvals or entitlements related to sales of new and used automobiles and light trucks. The moratorium is expected to be extended into next year, city staff said. The action came after the city started receiving a “proliferation” of auto-related business activity in commercial areas, including areas outside the city’s already established Vehicle Services Overlay Zone. The overlay zone was created in 2005 as part of the redevelopment of Downtown Newhall and a plan to place new auto-related services out of the area. However, the zone only restricts the location of auto service and repair businesses and does not address auto retailers, said Joseph Montes, Santa Clarita’s assistant city attorney. “As a result, we’ve got auto retail uses popping up in different areas of the city that are outside that auto overlay (zone), and some of those uses are creating some impacts in those areas that the city wants to take a look at,” Montes said. The current overlay zone includes the Valencia Industrial Center area and areas on Creekside Road, on Ruether Avenue and around Springbrook Avenue and Drayton Street. Internet sellers One noticeable change in the city’s auto retail sector is a more recent increase of activity by Internet-based sellers, or sellers who typically rent office space, post vehicles for sale online and make the transactions from their offices’ parking lots. The city has received complaints about sellers using too many parking spaces and having maintenance performed in public parking lots. “This is a fairly recent phenomenon,” Montes said. “When you see a few of them coming in and it looks like it might be a growth industry, it’s time to put in appropriate regulations so that you can deal with the impacts associated with those uses before they become so extensive that you can’t do anything about it.” The city’s planning department is drafting a study and a plan for restructuring the zone. One option being considered is the creation of two separate zones, one for auto services and one for auto dealers, said Fred Follstad, associate planner for Santa Clarita. The new zone will likely mirror regulations and standards already in place in the existing overlay zone for auto service businesses, though the city plans to reach out to local auto dealers, the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, local developers and other groups for input, he said. While the moratorium is set for 45 days, the City Council can choose to extend it to an additional 10 months if necessary. Follstad said he expects city staff will bring the plan to the Planning Commission by the end of this year and that the City Council will vote on it sometime in 2011. Don Fleming, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Auto Dealers Association and owner of Valencia Acura, said bringing all the dealers together will create a positive impact on the local sector. “We would like to see all the automobile dealers in the same general vicinity,” Fleming said. “Cross shopping is always good for consumers and for the car dealers. … It has a very positive effect, and I think once it’s all done, everyone will appreciate it.”

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