City Special Review 981 – NW Corner of Shiloh Road and Central Ave. – Car Wash – A special review request to allow a stand-alone car wash facility on Lot 22A, Block 2 of Certificate of Survey 2727M, a 4.708 acre parcel of land. The parcel is currently outside the City limits of Billings. There is a pending annexation request.  Tax ID: D11892.
 
Special Review applications are reviewed using BMCC Section 27-1503 criteria referenced in the Alternatives Analyzed section of this memo. Special Reviews do not require an ordinance for approval, are not zone changes on property; rather, are tied to specific uses that are allowed in a given zoning district but are subject to a review by the City prior to the use being allowed. Special Reviews, unlike zone changes, may be conditioned to mitigate possible impacts from the use on the subject property or surrounding properties.

APPLICATION DATA
OWNER: Amy Iwata, Trustee
AGENT: Bryan Alexander, Sanderson Stewart
LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Lot 22A, Block 2 of Certificate of Survey 2727M
ADDRESS: No address/generally located on the NW corner of Shiloh Road and Central Ave
CURRENT ZONING: Neighborhood Commercial
EXISTING LAND USE: Agricultural
PROPOSED USE: Car Wash
SIZE OF PARCEL: 4.708 Acres

The City Council May:

• Approve the request;
• Conditionally approve the request;
• Deny the request;
• Allow the applicant to withdraw the request; or
• Delay action on the request for up to 30 days.

Before a recommendation of approval or conditional approval can be made, each special review request must demonstrate conformance with three primary criteria (BMCC 27-1503): 1) the application complies with all parts of the Zoning Regulations, 2) the application is consistent with the objectives and purposes of the Zoning Regulations and the 2016 Growth Policy, and 3) the application is compatible with surrounding land uses and is otherwise screened and separated from adjacent land to minimize adverse impacts.
 
This application conforms to the first criteria in so far that the zoning regulations adopted by the City Council have designated all NC zoning districts can have a car wash as long as they go through the special review process. The subject property is also within the Shiloh Overlay District. There are requirements for landscaping and screening from residential uses next to commercial uses within the zoning regulations, and the overlay district has additional requirements for landscaping, signage and building design. The proposed facility meets the requirements of the zoning regulations.
 
The application meets criteria from the second requirement, as it is consistent with some of the objectives of the 2016 Growth Policy:

• Essential Investments: Infill development and development near existing City infrastructure may be the most cost effective.

The proposed special review will promote development of a commercial service on a parcel where none currently exists on land zoned appropriately for this commercial use. The property is located on a principal arterial street near an intersection of a principal arterial street. The property has easy access to City services and infrastructure.

• Strong Neighborhoods: Neighborhoods that are safe and attractive and provide essential services are much desired.

The proposed development of this land will provide services to the immediately adjacent neighbors as well as capture existing traffic from Shiloh Road and Central Avenue. The proposed use is not expected to generate much new traffic, but does take advantage of current high volume traffic on two arterial streets. Conditions of approval will be proposed to ensure this development does not impact the neighboring properties with excessive noise, light and other intrusions.

• Prosperity: A diversity of available jobs can ensure a strong Billings’ economy. Successful businesses that provide local jobs benefit the community.

The proposed special review will support a new business, provide employment opportunities at this location, and benefit the community with local services.
 
The application also meets the third criteria in that it is compatible with surrounding land uses in the area. This site is in an area of Billings with commercial zoning and uses to the east and south, and residential zoning and uses to the north and west. There are residential and commercial uses to the east across Shiloh Road. There are impacts from the proposed use that need to be mitigated. The conditions recommended with the special review should mitigate impacts on the site and the surrounding properties.

Approval of this application will have no direct financial impact on the Planning Division Budget.

The applicant is requesting a special review to allow a stand-alone car wash facility, on Lot 22A, Block 2 of Certificate of Survey 2727M, a 4.708 acre parcel of land. The parcel is currently outside the City limits of Billings and there is a pending annexation request the Council must act on before considering this Special Review. The contract purchaser, Buggy Bath Carwash, is proposing development of the car wash on the northerly 2.22 acres and keeping the remaining 2.5 acres undeveloped at this time. The existing zoning is Neighborhood Commercial (NC) and would allow a car wash with a special review approval. A Traffic Impact Study was prepared by the current property owner, and is included with their application. The study concluded the proposed use would have low impact on traffic.  No improvements were recommended for the intersection at this time to improve capacity. 

A Special Review is necessary for the intended use of a car wash in the existing NC zone. The developer intends to orient the site to minimize impacts on adjacent residential properties by facing dryers away from them, using low-noise dryers in the automatic tunnel and touchless automatic bay, and providing a six foot high block wall adjacent to the residential parcels.  The City Zoning Commission held a public hearing for the zone change request on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, and is recommending conditional approval based on the criteria detailed in the alternatives analyzed section of this memo.

The Zoning Commission held a public hearing on the zone change request on February 4, 2020, and received Staff recommendation, as well as testimony from the agent.  Karen Husman, Planner I, gave a brief presentation, reviewed the proposal and the proposed conditions of approval.  Karen reiterated the property is located outside the City limits and a concurrent annexation petition is pending. The applicant's agent Brian Alexander, Sanderson Stewart, reviewed the proposal for the car wash facility, concurring with the staff recommended conditions of approval. 

Commissioner King asked if the adjacent properties to the west were all residential and asked for details on the proposed buffering from noise, lighting and hours of operation. He also asked how close the next commercial development was to the west.  Nicole Cromwell, Zoning Coordinator, said the adjacent property to the west were all residential, and the next area of commercial development on Central Ave was near 48th Street to the west.

Brian said the hours of operation for the automatic bay would depend on the weather, and the maximum hours would be twelve hours a day, and the manual bays would be operational twenty four hours daily.  Brian said the plans include the solid wall and landscaping as well as restrictive lighting would be an important part of the development to buffer the residences to the west.  Brian said they also plan to have the structure a minimum of 300 feet from the adjacent residential property line to the west with the automatic bay to the east for additional buffering.  Brian also reviewed the access for the property, stating there is a reciprocal access easement for the property and the Cenex property, with ingress and egress from Central Avenue and Shiloh Road, and they have no plans to add any additional access. 

Brian stated the restrictions in the Shiloh Corridor Overlay District has more restrictive regulations on signage and lighting adjacent to residential uses than the Cenex property because the Cenex business was developed prior to the Shiloh Overlay District.  Brian continued stating they would also make an effort to buffer the public space to the north and the pedestrian trail with landscaping as well.

Commissioner Brooks asked staff about the findings in the second criteria if it is "consistent with some of the objectives of the Growth Policy".  Karen responded that the application may not be consistent with all of the objectives, but it was consistent with enough of the objectives to recommend approval of the application.

There were no members if the public in attendance to speak on the application.

The Zoning Commission closed the public hearing and a motion was made by Commission Member King to forward to the City Council a recommendation of conditional approval and adoption of the findings of the 3 criteria for Special Review  981. The motion was seconded by Commission Member Brooks and the Commission voted three in favor and none in opposition to the motion.

Consistency with adopted plans ans policies is discussed in the alternatives analyzed section of this memo.