City planning staff is recommending against rezoning a 1.14-acre corner at Longneck Road and Monte Carlo Boulevard for a Christian Brothers Automotive shop, setting up a disagreement with the applicant at Monday's City Council meeting.
The council will hold two public hearings on Nov. 9: one on changing 1523 Longneck Road from SF-E, single-family estate residential, to C-2, general commercial, and one on a specific use permit for major automobile repair on the same land. The request comes from McAfee Investments LLC, represented by Kelly McAfee.
The city's concerns
In a memo for the meeting, Planning Manager Parker McDowell wrote that staff told the applicant in a Sept. 14 comment letter that it recommended denial, and that the applicant chose to go forward.
Staff's main objection is to C-2 itself. The memo notes that the district allows a wide range of commercial, service and repair uses, and that approving it would let any of those uses go on the property later without another rezoning, even if the auto shop never opened.
Princeton's comprehensive plan, adopted in August, labels the area Neighborhood Commercial, meant for smaller businesses serving nearby homes. The memo calls C-2 inconsistent with that designation.
Staff also pointed to Longneck Road, writing that the road "has not been improved to accommodate the level of commercial traffic" that broader C-2 development could bring. The surrounding area is mostly residential, the memo says, and it suggests a less intensive zoning category could fit the site better.
The applicant's case
Christian Brothers Automotive's narrative describes a 10-bay maintenance and repair shop open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and closed on weekends. The company says it does no body work, painting, collision repair, salvage or towing, keeps work indoors with no outdoor storage, and houses its air compressor in an enclosed masonry room to limit noise.
