Car dealer Brett Smith has lost his struggle for city permission to run a car lot at 5172 S. State St.
The City Council on Tuesday night voted 3-2 against an appeal by Smith of the Planning Commission's denial of his request for a conditional-use permit to run a small car dealership at the location. City officials said they were worried the business, Cottonwood Motors, would put too many vehicles on a lot it shares with two nightclubs.Smith had said he would put no more than four or five cars at a time on the lot and would move them indoors at night to avoid any parking conflicts with the nightclubs.
"I guess you can't fight City Council," said Smith, who said he will probably move the business elsewhere, though he said he was confident he could win the fight by taking it to court.
"It's a conditional-use area, it's all there in black and white," he said, "but the amount of money it would take to fight it, we don't know if it would be worth it."
Smith had pointed out the irony of the city's stance, noting that Murray is the car-sales capital of Utah. Car dealerships do about $175 million in sales and service in the city and account for one-fifth of the city's sales-tax revenues. Most, like Smith, run business along the State Street corridor.
Smith recently received a state dealership license for his car lot, which was a largely wholesale operation, though he kept a few cars on retail display in front of his office. Cottonwood Motors moved to the site from a nearby Main Street location last year in anticipation of getting the conditional-use permit.
Smith said he will probably relocate to another site in Murray.