AutoZone has set its sights on a busy Cathedral City shopping center on Highway 111 for a roughly 32,000-square-foot “Mega Hub” store.
The proposed 31.635-square-foot store would be built on what is currently a 1.82-acre dirt lot on a northwest portion of the Canyon Plaza North shopping center off Highway 111, near Cathedral City’s border with Palm Springs. The dirt lot is located between two of the shopping complex’s major tenants, Target and Boomer’s, across the parking lot from Trader Joe’s.
But some residents are worried that a major development would create traffic safety problems and other quality of life issues in an already busy area. They have called on the city’s planning commission to reject the proposal or else attach various requirements to it they say would help address their concerns.
Cathedral City planning staff, meanwhile, is recommending the city’s planning commission approve the proposal at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 15. Staff wrote that the project is consistent with zoning for the site and would bring desirable retail to the community while filling in a vacant building pad.
What is an AutoZone Mega Hub?
A staff report states that the store would consist of 8,268 square feet that would be used as the dedicated customer retail area, 22,845 square feet of space that would used for inventory storage and what is described as “assisted sales” and 690 square feet that would be used for restrooms and an employee break room.
According to a “business operations narrative” furnished by AutoZone to the city, the proposed Mega Hub would “operate similar to all other stores AutoZone operates, just in a larger retail format.”
“This AutoZone store will carry a more extensive selection of auto parts compared to “regular” stores, often stocking up to 100,000 different SKUs,” the narrative states. “This includes parts that are less commonly in demand but critical for specialized repairs.”
A staff report posted on the city website states that about 65% of the store’s inventory is expected to be purchased by customers in-store, while the remaining 35% would be delivered to commercial accounts, such as local auto repair shops. However, the report states that the store would not be used to make deliveries to other AutoZone stores.
Local deliveries from the store would be made during business hours using “light duty passenger vehicles” while new merchandise would be delivered from the store once per day using a tractor trailer, with all inbound and outbound deliveries happening during business hours.
The store would typically be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday through Saturday, with reduced hours on Sunday. It would employee around 50 to 60 with 20 to 25 working during the busiest shift.
The current proposal calls for 23 new parking spaces to be built along with the store, plus two loading spaces, a trash enclosure, a retention basin and new landscaping.
Is the site zoned for a Mega Hub?
The land plot, like the rest of the surrounding shopping center, is zoned “to provide for retail and service commercial uses which are of a relatively high intensity and are necessary to provide a wide range of shopping facilities and goods, professional and administrative offices and entertainment,” according to the city’s zoning code.
However, some residents have pointed out that auto parts stores of greater than 2,000 square feet are not explicitly listed among the potential conditional uses of the site in the zoning code and argued that it should not be permitted as a result as the code outlaws unlisted uses. City planning staff, meanwhile, wrote that they have concluded approving the hub via a conditional use permit would be consistent with the code, despite it not being explicitly mentioned as a permitted use.
Why do some District East residents oppose the project?
The opposition to the project has come from residents of District East, which is located just north of the proposed site and separated from it by Jones Road. In letters sent to the city, several residents wrote that District East consists of 43 homes and that the project would bring increased traffic and congestion to an already crowded area, including Jones Road itself.
City planning staff wrote in the staff report that it was recommending approval of a conditional use permit for the mega hub because such a store would be consistent with the land’s intended use and would enhance the retail offerings within the large shopping center. The report also notes that the site is zoned for a retail building of up to 50,000 square feet and that impacts of the project would be in-line with the site’s zoning.
“Overall, any traffic, noise, and air quality impacts associated with the proposed project would be expected to be comparable with those generated by the other retail and commercial uses in the existing shopping center,” the report reads. “The technical studies prepared for the project found that the project would have less than significant impacts on traffic, noise and air quality. Operational noise associated with the project would be limited to business hours and would not exceed the City noise standard, including for receivers modeled at the nearest residential property line.”
The report also includes the planning department’s responses to several suggestions and concerns raised by residents. Some suggestions, such as signs prohibiting parking along Jones Road near the entry to District East and requiring deliveries to the store to occur during business hours, were included by planning staff as suggested conditions for the permit while others were not because the city felt they had either been sufficiently addressed or were outside the scope of the project.
The planning commission can opt to attach conditions to a conditional use permit if it decides to approve one for the project.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: AutoZone eyes Cathedral City for ‘Mega Hub’ but some residents are concerned
Reporting by Paul Albani-Burgio, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Paul Albani-Burgio, Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY Network
