A request to allow used car sales at an East Broadway auto service business returns to the Haverhill city council Tuesday night under a “specific and material change” as found recently by the city’s planning board.
Petitioner Devon Tucker for Ideal Cars and Service Center, 7-9 East Broadway, is asking the council’s approval of a revised special permit request for a two-vehicle used car sales area within a privacy gate. A previous proposal to allow a 10-vehicle used car lot on the property was rejected by the council March 24. The Haverhill planning board held a public hearing on the revised repetitive petition May 13 and was forwarded to the council without input or comment on the merits of the application, according to Economic Development and Planning Director William Pillsbury.
“The planning board found by all but one member that the change proposed was specific and material and as such the matter can be reheard by the city council prior to two years based on the specific and material changes to the application,” Pillsbury said. Under zoning ordinances, the used car sales proposal could not be reheard by the council for two years without the planning board’s finding.
Previously, neighbors and other community members voiced concerns about potential impacts to the neighborhood, including parking spaces and traffic and safety issues for pedestrians.
Also on the city council agenda, further discussion is expected on the city’s plan to allow a solar farm on a capped portion of the former Bradford landfill on Groveland Road. A vote on whether to authorize Mayor James J. Fiorentini to enter into a net metering agreement with solar energy operator SunEdison was delayed two weeks ago due to concerns over visual aesthetics and the financial benefit of the city purchasing net metering credits over a 20-year span.
The Haverhill city council meets at 7 p.m., Tuesday, in council chambers at Haverhill City Hall.