The St. Louis County Planning Commission held a public hearing on a proposal last week for a small used car dealership on Morganford Road.
Applicant Kawa Shaker is requesting a change in zoning from C-2 to C-8 in order to operate a car dealership on a .33 acre parcel at 8525 Morganford Road, 63123. The proposal includes permission for the “sales, rentals and leasing of new and used automobiles, including trucks and motorcycles as well as repairs and outdoor storage of said vehicles.”
Under the county’s zoning ordinance, the only area a car dealership is technically allowed is the C-4 Highway Service Commercial District, which allows “for the sale of rental and leasing of new and used vehicles, as well as the necessary repairs for those vehicles,” Planning Department staff told the commission at the Sept. 18 hearing. However, the C-4 zoning designation requires a minimum lot size of 1 acre for dealerships. Requesting the C-8 zoning designation allows petitioners to essentially establish a “combination of developments and uses” that does not fall under other zoning districts. The C-8 zoning would let Shaker operate the dealership and repair shop on the .33 acre lot, rather than the 1 acre lot as required by the C-4 zoning designation.
Shaker and two of his brothers already rent the building at 8525 Morganford for an auto service and repair shop, and would like to expand to car sales as “a small family project.” The brothers are able to operate the service station under a conditional use permit in the C-2 district.
“We got this property rented. … We do run this business as a car shop and we found out if we can do used car sales – it’s a small family project. A maximum of about 15 –12 to 15 cars at a time to buy them and fix them up,” Shaker told commissioners. “We would like to use our free time … to (buy, fix and resell cars).”
They would not sell any new cars, sales would only be of used cars.
Hours of operation would be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days a week.
Commissioner William Sneed questioned if there was any kind of site-proof fencing between the business and adjacent residential areas. Shaker said that there was already an existing fence along the back property line.
No members of the public spoke for or against the petition.
Also originally on the agenda for Sept. 18 was a proposal for a Dogwood Social House restaurant, however, that public hearing was postponed.
The restaurant is proposing a new location at 6303 S. Lindbergh Blvd., at the corner of Lindbergh and Concord Road. Real Estate Partners X, LLC is requesting amended C-8 zoning for all C-3 Shopping District permitted uses, including a 28,700-square-foot Dogwood Social House, 22,575-square-feet of additional retail space and a multilevel self-storage facility with a 39,300-square-foot footprint. The location is the site of the former Weekends Only store that closed earlier this year.
In addition to converting the Weekends Only space, the proposal also calls for two new outbuildings fronting Lindbergh – a 3,400-square-foot bank as well as a 6,500-square-foot restaurant.
Dogwood Social House, which originated in Cape Girardeau, has one location in St. Louis County in Ellisville, as well as locations in O’Fallon, Missouri, and O’Fallon, Illinois. The restaurant offers a mix of entertainment and games, such as axe throwing, corn hole, table games and others depending on the location. The proposed location in South County would include eight pickleball courts, according to the commission’s agenda.
The tract size of the petition is 9.47 acres.