The Graham city council has agreed to reconsider a request for a variance (i.e., a waiver) from a requirement to build sidewalks along 728 feet at the front of a long-running car dealership on Auto Park Drive.
County Motor Land Company – generally known as County Ford – had asked a superior court judge to review a decision by Graham’s board of adjustment denying its request for a sidewalk construction variance along the front of the dealership property at 105 Auto Park Drive, where a Ford dealership owned by the Stearns family has operated for more than half a century.
County Motor Land Company had asked the city in 2018 to waive its requirement to build sidewalks when new development and/or renovations within the city’s Highway 87/Main Street overlay district.
County Motor Land was planning to renovate the Ford dealership on Auto Park Drive.
The company contended in its application for a variance that the city’s requirement to build a 728-foot sidewalk along the front of the dealership property would create considerable expense and hardship due to a 10-foot pitch from an existing curb, traffic, and potential safety risks, based on materials that were provided at the time for Graham’s board of adjustment.
Graham’s board of adjustment denied the variance request at its meeting in November 2018.
Instead, city officials informed County Motor Land that, in keeping with the city’s development ordinance, sidewalks would have to be built along the entire 728-foot frontage of the property as part of the planned renovation of the auto dealership.
During their latest meeting earlier this month, Graham’s city council members met in closed session with the city’s attorneys to discuss the case before reconvening in open session and announcing that the dispute had been resolved.
