The Gary Common Council, on Tuesday, approved a special use permit for a car wash and used auto dealership at 5800-06 W. 5th Ave.
Six council members voted in favor of the permit, with Parliamentarian Linda Barnes Caldwell, D-5th, as the lone vote against. Councilmen Dwight Williams, D-6th, and Myles Tolliver, D-at large, were absent.
The council held its biweekly meeting at ArtHouse Social Kitchen in Gary, citing “technical difficulties” at city hall. President Lori Latham, D-1st, said Tuesday night that the building’s elevators need repair.
Petitioner Ralph Garcia submitted an application to the Gary Board of Zoning Appeals on April 10, which was approved with four votes. The land is currently zoned as B3-1, which allows for shopping centers or large stores.
A special use permit would allow Garcia to use the property outside its traditional zoning restrictions.
No one spoke against the special use permit at the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, City Attorney Marco Molina said Tuesday.
The property had previously been used as a gas station, Garcia said at Tuesday’s meeting.
The council’s original ordinance asked for property to be used as a car wash with no mention of an auto dealership. The omission was done in error, Molina said, and Garcia noticed just before the council’s Tuesday meeting.
Council members voted unanimously to amend the ordinance to include the dealership.
Barnes Caldwell voted against the ordinance, citing concerns that the permit was originally presented as a car wash to the council. The councilwoman was also concerned because the property was described as a “used auto dealership and/or car wash” in the Board of Zoning appeals packet.
“Why does it say ‘and/or’?” Barnes Caldwell asked. “I’m concerned about that.”
She asked if the property could be a car wash for its first year and then later include a dealership.
Councilman Kenneth Whisenton, D-at large, asked Garcia how many cars he plans to sell from the lot. Garcia plans to only sell “about one or two” at a time, he told the council.
“I just want to ensure that’s not going to be a situation where … we’re not all blindsided,” Whisenton said. “I just want to know what kind of constraints we could have.”
Molina told council members that they could change the special use permit however they see fit, but the council did not amend the ordinance a second time.
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
