CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- City leaders Monday agreed to review a request which would spare a Volkswagen Beetle from a trip to the scrap yard.
West side neighbors have said the car, which sits on top of a former auto repair shop at the corner of W. Morehead and Freedom Drive, is a landmark for their community.
But city zoning inspectors ruled the 1960's-era Beetle violates Charlotte's ordinance for commercial signs and must be removed when the property is converted into a restaurant.
The owner of the car and the former auto repair shop on which it rests will ask now city council to rezone the property for a conditional use, which would allow the VW to stay on the roof when the new restaurant opens.
"People were really doubting that we were going to get anything done up there," said Greg Auten, one of the partners behind Pinky's Westside Grill. "We couldn't even get started."
Renovations on the garage were delayed for nearly a year as developers worked on a compromise for the restaurant's parking.
Planners said the lot was too small for a restaurant.
"There are buildings there that cannot be used because there are not enough parking spaces," Brian Fincher, president of the Camp Greene Neighborhood Association, told city leaders Monday as he spoke on behalf of the developer.
If city planners are not flexible, vacant buildings and commercial lots will not find new tenants, Fincher said.
Some council members agreed the city's zoning rules apparently have had the unintended consequence of hampering development.
"We need to get out of their way and let them open this...business," council member Andy Dulin said before a unanimous vote to consider the rezoning request next month.
The restaurant is scheduled to open next spring.
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