Poway Community Blog

Perry Ford came up with a plan regarding on doubling up the size of its Poway Road showroom. The said plan is going to be reviewed by the Poway City Council on Tuesday near Poway homes. The dealer proposed to build a new 17,500 sq ft. structure, this was according to a city staff report.

The plan includes demolishing the old building once the new structure is occupied. The proposed new building on the other hand, has a design that will be subjected of a non-binding "pre-development conference" meeting, held on the council meeting, and during between the applicant's representatives and the whole council.

Meanwhile, the purpose of the said conference will be to get the council feedback on whether the showroom's final design needs to implement western-themed elements into the whole design of the structure. The applicant's initial proposed deign does not meet this requirement as said by the city planning staff of Poway homes.

On the other hand, the said dealership takes up 2.7 acres of land at 12740 Poway Road (near the vicinity of Poway homes) where there has been an auto dealership happening since even before the city was incorporated back in 1980. In 1986,the council approved the "Poway Road Specific Plan" which has divided the commercial corridor into four separate districts along with separate architectural themes.

For this matter, Automotive District and the Community Business District both require the incorporation of "California barn/ranch" features into building designs. The council later relaxed those standards for auto dealers and eventually amended the whole plan to limit auto dealership to the automotive/general commercial zone.

Perry Ford is located in the Community Business zone, and is now considered a legal non-conforming use, since its appearance predates the Poway Road plan. In that case, however, because it is in the Community Business zone, western-themed design elements are no more of an issue.

All in all, the staff report does not take position on the matter, but significantly notes that Perry's architectural style is similar to the other dealership on the eastern end of Poway Road, overlooking Poway homes.