Midvale City Council denies used-car dealership from operating on State Street

Midvale City Planner Jonathan Anderson presenting the council with the rezone request. (Courtesy Midvale City)

A used-car dealership was denied permission to open on State Street after the Midvale City Council rejected the car company’s request to rezone its sales lot to a more commercially friendly precinct. 

Excel Motor Co. originally applied for a business license in August, but it was denied because its four properties – 7634 South, 7636 South, 7638 South and 7640-7642 South State Street – are on the northern edge of the Midvale Center Station area. The car dealership requested that city lawmakers redesignate its properties to the State Street Zone (SSC), an area permitting a diverse range of commercial businesses. But the council rejected the request Feb. 3.

City lawmakers said the rezone would defeat the purpose of the Midvale Center TRAX Station corridor.

“The idea is that we need that area to be something else … a walkable use to TRAX,” Council Member Bryant Brown said at the February meeting. “And this, in my opinion, would feel like quickly giving up on that, and [residents might ask] ‘Why did we allow it right by people to begin with?’ and it just looks like, ‘Well, we had an applicant who asked and we said yes’ as opposed to ‘We have this bigger master plan.’”

Midvale’s Planning Commission recommended the council rezone Excel Motor’s properties into the SSC in January. City planners believed the dealership would fulfill Midvale’s master plan’s vision to “provide a commercial opportunity zone for businesses,” Jonathan Anderson, a Midvale City planner, said to the council before the vote. He added that the car dealership could help aid the city’s tax base, as sales tax revenue is slowly declining.

Still, Brown said there are already several car dealerships on State Street, so Excel Motor might not generate a lot of business in the SSC zone.

“I think people want to see something besides used car sales in that area, so there was an intentional exclusion,” Brown said.

Council Member Heidi Robinson concurred, adding that the sales lot will be “just a wide expanse of more concrete.”

During public comment, Midvale resident Sue Armitage expressed concerns similar to Robinson’s about the additional concrete lots along State Street.

“Seems like between South Salt Lake and Sandy, there are just a plethora of small used car lots, and personally, I just don’t like the aesthetic,” she said.

To assuage concerns about a mass of asphalt parking, Paul Jones, an attorney representing Excel Motor, told the council that the car company will not operate a traditional dealership. Excel Motor would sell cars through its website and have a rotating selection of about 10 used vehicles at the Midvale lot.

“They basically sell [cars] on the Internet and meet the consumer at the location. … It’s basically just an office space where vehicles will be sold through that method, but it’s not actually a car lot; just vehicle sales will be conducted there,” Jones said.

But Midvale City leaders were not swayed by the dealership’s online business model.

The Center Street TRAX zone is meant to “add a certain level of walkability and vitalization,” Robinson said. “And since this is an online business, this isn’t going to provide any of that. There isn’t going to be any people walking around.”

Council Member Denece Mikolash agreed with Robinson and emphasized the need to follow the city’s master plan.

“I think the intent is to change the direction of this [area] and the plan is there for a purpose,” Mikolash said. “And until the general plan changes, then we should continue to see what happens there.”