The Scottsdale Planning Commission voted 5-2 to recommend that City Council approve a development plan amendment for the Finish Line Auto Club at 17600 North Perimeter Drive, moving the entitlement from a single multistory building to multiple lower-scale buildings focused on private car storage and associated clubhouse space.

The item drew public comment and questions from commissioners about potential on-site car sales and impacts to a neighboring church’s parking. The commission first rejected a motion to continue the case and then approved a recommendation to council with stipulations attached to the staff packet.

Casey Steinke, planning project manager with the City of Scottsdale planning department, told the commission the property lies in the Perimeter Center area and is currently governed by a Planned Community District with an underlying I-1 (Industrial Park) base district. “We are simply trying to amend the previously approved development plan,” Steinke said, explaining the request is for a zoning district map amendment to amend the prior development plan and some development standards, chiefly floor-area-ratio, for a roughly 11.5-acre parcel formerly occupied by Fender Musical Instruments.

Under the proposal, the eastern portion of the site would contain private, ownership garages and a clubhouse/office component; the western portion would remain a speculative industrial building. The applicant’s team told commissioners the proposal includes about 67–68 enclosed ownership garages, would provide 174 parking spaces where the current iteration requires 124, and that the developer is voluntarily keeping a floor‑area‑ratio cap of 0.6 rather than the I‑1 maximum of 0.8. The larger west building was described as about 50,000 square feet; the previously approved single building had a rooftop screening height that totaled about 58 feet, while the current ordinance number cited is 52 feet (excluding screening).

Kurt Jones of Tiffany & Bosco, representing the applicant, confirmed the project is for private car storage and said vehicle sales are not an allowed use in I‑1 zoning. “The vehicle sales use is not allowed on this property,” Jones said during the hearing.

Tony Principe, the Finish Line Auto Club managing member, said the company operates similar facilities in Southern California and does not sell vehicles from those sites. “We don't sell vehicles out of those sites. We never have. We don't have any intention of doing that,” Principe said, and estimated the clubhouse and support operations could employ roughly 15–20 full‑time staff when built.

Neighbors and stakeholders pressed for either a continuance or a condition prohibiting private or public car sales and affiliated activities. Samantha Demas, land-use counsel for Barrett-Jackson, asked for more stakeholder engagement and for a stipulation forbidding on‑site sales, citing a prior interpretation that allowed some sales‑related activities when transactions were conducted online. Jason Fritz, lead pastor at Illuminate Community Church, asked about the project’s timing and potential impacts on the church’s existing parking arrangements.

Commissioner Gonzales moved to continue the case to allow further review and outreach; Commissioner Drake seconded. The continuance motion failed on a 3‑4 roll call (Gonzales, Joiner and Drake voting yes; Scarborough, Young, Ertel/Hertel and Reid voting no).

Commissioner Reid then moved to recommend approval to City Council, stating that the PCD criteria were met and that the amended development standards conformed with the general plan. The motion passed on a 5‑2 roll call (Scarborough, Young, Ertel/Hertel, Drake and Reid voting yes; Gonzales and Joiner voting no).

Staff and the applicant said they will continue to coordinate with the neighboring church about parking and construction timing. The applicant told the commission that, in its estimate, construction would likely not begin for roughly a year and that “best case scenario on a development schedule for this project is end of next year to probably be moving dirt.”

The commission’s recommendation advances the application to Scottsdale City Council for a final decision; the council will consider the development plan amendment and any formal stipulations or conditions listed with the recommendation.