A proposed electric car dealership at 5711 S. Lindbergh Blvd. is one step closer to opening after the St. Louis County Planning Commission approved a zoning change from C-3 shopping district to C-8 planned commercial district at an executive meeting Jan. 24.

The commission originally heard the site proposal in December. At the time, the car company was unnamed due to a confidentiality agreement, but developers have since informed the county it is a proposed Tesla dealership.

Proposed changes to the current lot include additional parking and handicap spots and additional doors for cars to enter the building. Since the original proposal, developers have added a buffer yard for trucks to turn in the lot.

At the public hearing in December, neighbors to the lot requested the commission add stormwater requirements to stop flooding in an adjacent field. In response, developers added extra permeable pavers to the site. Acting Director of Planning Jacob Trimble said developers are not required to fix flooding issues.

“Regulatorily, they are not required to fix all of the problems of the past, just to make sure they don’t get worse,” Trimble said. “It is not my reading of the authority of the Planning Commission to require regulations in a higher threshold than MSD.”

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will examine the site to make sure developer precautions and plans will fit their standards. The commission will also revisit the stormwater issue once final site plans are submitted by developers.