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The Krumland Auto Group appears to have overcome a decade of community objections and now will head to the Roswell City Council to seek approval of final plats so that it can proceed with two new dealerships that will cost an estimated $25 million to build.
When completed, which would be expected about two years after construction begins, the new Ford and Hyundai dealerships on West Second Street could mean an additional 40 jobs for the area during the first year of operations, said Toby Gross, a partner in TNT Construction.
Gross said that he serves as the design-builder for Krumland Auto Group. TNT Construction, he said, also involves Krumland Auto owner Tom Krumland.
Krumland Auto and its affiliates would like to start work on one of the projects, the Hyundai dealership, which will go up on a vacant lot at 2301 W. Second Street, near Sequoia Avenue, within 30 days of city council approval of the final plat, Gross said. That approval could occur at a Feb. 10 Roswell City Council meeting. Construction on that project is expected to take about 18 months.
With city council approval, the company also plans to start work soon after on a new Ford dealership at 1901 to 2001 W. Second St., which would take about two years to complete. That dealership is going in where an existing Hyundai sales center is now. A portion of the Hyundai building will be repurposed as a Ford QuickLane, for fast lube and oil changes, but the rest of the Hyundai facilities will be removed to make room for the Ford sales center, display areas and parking lot.
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To get to a point where construction can begin, the company is overcoming zoning issues that go back 20 years.
“Some of the issues date back to 2002, the original zoning issues we had,” Gross said. “We have rectified those because now we need to build on those locations.”
The city of Roswell Planning and Zoning Commission voted Tuesday night in favor of Krumland Auto in two zoning cases, one involving the land where the Ford dealership will go and one involving property at 2099 W. Second St., where a Nissan dealership is located.
The commission also gave preliminary approval for two sets of final plats for the new Hyundai and Ford dealerships. Final plats also must have the approval of the city council.
At a previous Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in December, the company’s applications had been opposed. Some of the four cases garnered as many as three protest letters to city staff and a protest petition signed by 16 people. People also appeared at the meeting to voice their concerns. City officials also noted in their documents that a previous case in 2011 about rezoning had garnered objections.
Most objections concerned ensuring that some type of buffer zone or transitional zone free of any type of construction exists to separate the dealerships from residential areas, nearby nature trails and the J. Kenneth Smith Bird Sanctuary.
Gross said that, for financing and construction reasons, Krumland Auto Group needed to rezone some of its land from R-2, residential, to commercial.
“Ford and Hyundai both have minimum requirements on the amount of land that you have that goes with their building,” Gross said.
At the Tuesday meeting, Judge Charles Currier and his wife, Rochelle Currier, who were part of the protest petition, indicated their willingness to drop the complaints as long as negotiated settlements codified as Exhibit F are included as part of the approved Planning and Zoning cases. The Curriers said that they did not represent the other protestors, but had shared information about the negotiated agreements with others.
Hess Yntema also appeared at the meeting to withdraw his protests on a rezoning case as well as an appeal he had filed with the city council regarding the preliminary plat for the property where the Hyundai dealership will go. He told the commission that he had reached an agreement with Krumland Auto attorneys about the Hyundai property. That also was codified as Exhibit F for that case.
The exact provisions of Exhibit F vary depending on the Planning and Zoning case. For the vacant land where the Hyundai dealership will go, Krumland Auto has agreed to a 25-foot easement between its property and the Spring River Trail to the north. No structures can be built on the easement. The agreement also calls for building of an 8-foot wall around some portions of the dealership land.
A common provision of Exhibit F for the rezoned parcels at 2001 and 2099 W. Second St. — and the final plat for the Ford dealership at 1901 to 2001 W. Second St. — is a dedication of 125 feet of land of “limited development rights” between Krumland Property and nearby residential areas on which no “primary” structures could be built, although utilities, light fixtures or “ancillary” structures such as shade structures might be placed.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Department indicated in its documents that they consider the new dealerships to be in the interest of the community, not just the company.
According to the documents presented, the city expects to receive as much as a $1.8 million increase in gross receipts tax revenues from the construction projects. The company also projects that its annual payroll will grow by $4 million once the two dealerships are operating.
“It is a huge development. It is private money. We are not asking anyone for any tax abatement or permit fees waived or anything,” Gross said. “We are asking to go to work on our own money on our land to get it done.”
Lisa Dunlap can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext 351, or at reporter02@rdrnews.com.
Krumland Auto zoning cases advance after protests dropped - Roswell Daily Record
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