2nd Letter to Longnecker outdoor display
City of Yelm
Community Development Department
105 Yelm Avenue West
P.O. Box 479
Yelm, WA 98597
August 25, 2006
Greg Longnecker
J & I Power Equipment, Inc.
10615 Bald Hill Road, S.E.
Yelm, WA 98597
Dear Mr. Longnecker:
The Community Development Department has reviewed your proposal of July 31, 2006, for parking and outdoor display of merchandise suggested by my earlier letter.
The proposal would utilize seven parking stalls near the corner of Bald Hills and Morris Roads for the outdoor display of merchandise associated with your business. According to the
details of your business usage you submitted, which shows 2,000 square feet of service area, these parking stalls are not required at this time to meet the minimum parking requirements
of the City’s Zoning Code.
Based on this, your proposal is approved with the condition that these stalls must be screened from public streets in a manner consistent with the overall landscaping of the site.
This requirement was noted in my August 2, 2006, but was not addressed in your proposal. The purpose for allowing the outdoor display of merchandise pursuant to Section 17.57.060 (3)
YMC is not for additional advertising, but rather for the display of merchandise for customers already on the site. A specific requirement of the code is that all outside storage be
“effectively fenced and screened from all residential areas and public rights-of-way (an eight-foot solid fence is presumed to effectively screen outside storage, not all outside storage
requires an eight-foot solid fence” (Section 17.57.060 (B)(1) YMC. While the Community Development Department does not believe an eight foot fence is required or appropriate, additional
landscaping screening between the display area and the public rights-of-way is appropriate in order to change the focus from external advertising to internal display.
An alternative may be to designate seven parking spaces next to the building as being for the display of equipment, this reducing the need for additional screening.
Thank you for your cooperation and willingness to help us work with you through this issue, and if you have any questions regarding this opportunity, please contact myself or Tami Merriman
at 458-3835.
Sincerely,
Grant Beck, Director
Department of Community Development