The St. Louis County Planning Commission held a public hearing Sept. 12 on a petition to operate a vehicle window tinting business in a business park off Meramec Bottom Road. 

The petitioner, Bamboo Equity Partners, is requesting amended C-8 commercial district zoning to allow a new tenant, Rocket Tint, to operate a vehicle window tinting service company at 4405 Meramec Bottom Road. The company was started by a former Boeing employee in 2021 as a mobile-only installation service and also offers vehicle wraps. 

Brady Gehring, a principal with Bamboo Equity Partners, told the commission they were looking for a conditional use from the current zoning district to something that would align more with C-7 zoning. 

“We have a nice eclectic mix of tenants in the property,” Gehring said. “Again, the reason we are here today is Rocket Tint. When going in, he would fall under the classification of vehicle repair/service.” 

The business park itself sits on 2.72 acres on the northwest corner of Meramec Bottom and Hawkins Fuchs roads and is made up of five different buildings. Gehring said buildings 4401 and 4409 were more typical office space, while 4405 — the specific building in question — and 4407 offered more “flex spaces” since those buildings had warehouse storage and vehicle bays in the rear. The business park is flanked by residential property in the north, commercial clusters to the west and south and Missouri American Water to the east. 

The company would employee two people, with plans to hire a third employee at some point in the future. The back bay/warehouse area would be used to do auto tinting and custom car wrapping. The tenant would occupy about 6,800 square feet of building space. The total square footage across all five buildings is 75,000. 

Gehring did not have specific operating hours to give the commission but said it would be standard business hours on weekdays and weekends and would “align with the business hours for the rest of the property.” 

No vehicles would be held overnight except in the bay or in the premise’s drive, weather permitting. 

The business will be required to install signage on the front of the building. A new monument sign for the business park was also recently installed that can feature the business name. 

Commissioner William Ballard asked if there would be any painting done as part of the services offered. Gehring said that it would strictly be window tinting and wraps, “no chemical storage, no painting.” 

No members of the public spoke on the proposal. The commission will vote on a recommendation at a future executive meeting.