Commission seeks quickest way to grant business move despite zoning

The Grand Coulee Planning Commission turned back visitor input last Wednesday night so that members could discuss among themselves the merits of accommodating a request for a zoning change so that an auto repair business could move to a new location.

MPH Automotive is located on Midway Avenue at Spokane Way where it is “grandfathered” in because it was already there when new zoning laws were created.

Chair and Councilmember Tammara Byers said the planning commission wasn’t taking public comments that night, but would at its next meeting, Nov. 12, at 5:30 p.m.

Commission members sought information on what it would take to grant the request.

Professional planner Vivian Ramsey, of SCJ Alliance, the city’s planning firm, said that even the quickest process to change the zoning would take months. She said that if the change was made it would open up the entire zone for similar businesses.

Ramsey said Monday that at the request of the commission, she is researching all the issues related to pursuing a “non-conforming use” path, and the issue will be discussed with the city’s attorney. She said that MPH owner Mike Horne already has a building permit to alter the building he is buying at 19 Midway, but not a use permit.

Planning members seemed destined to pursue a “non-conforming use” permit as the best way of granting Horne permission to move his business.

Responding to one person’s comment at the end of the meeting that it appeared the commission members were biased in favor of the change, and that the issue was a “slam dunk,” Byers disagreed.

She pointed out that there was a long way to go, and plenty of time for comment along the way, before any decision would be made.

The issue was not on the Grand Coulee City Council’s agenda for last night’s regular meeting, but it was expected that some people would show up to talk about it during the public comment period.

Horne, owner of MPH, who has been in his present location for 10 years, wants to purchase a building owned by Larry Maier, about a block north of his present rented building. That locations is not currently zoned for automotive repair.

Allowing the move and change of zoning is opposed by some members of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. The topic came up at the chamber’s Thursday luncheon. Debbie Starkey, who has an investment business next door to where Horne wants to relocate, said that many of those in the planning group are friends of Horne or have had a business relationship with him.

A recent event, an eviction of MPH from its present location, occurred after an story appeared in The Star newspaper stating that Horne had said items people objected to outside the building and elsewhere belonged to the owners of the building. A few days later, Horne said, he received an eviction notice and had to be out in 30 days.

It was explained by planners that with a conditional use permit, the city could attach a string of conditions to the permit.

Two city council members are on the planning group, the chair, Tammara Byers, and David Tylor. Councilmember Paul Townsend was in the audience Wednesday night.