CITY MAY LIMIT PARKING LOT SALES.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer PALMDALE - City officials are leaning toward limiting used-car sales in shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into parking lots, but won't impose a temporary moratorium as recommended by the Planning Commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle . While the Planning Commission recommended three weeks ago halting such ``tent'' sales while new regulations are crafted, City Attorney Matt Ditzhazy said he doubted there were legal grounds to impose a moratorium. ``Moratoria typically are enacted for health and safety, not for land use,'' Ditzhazy said. ``I'm not sure a moratorium can be done.'' Planning staff See: central planning team. is working to prepare a new ordinance in time for the City Council's April 9 meeting. The plan at present would reduce the total number of such events citywide from 40 to four a year. Each sale would be limited to no more than three consecutive days in length. City staff and planning commissioners said the temporary auto sales Auto Sales The major producers of domestic automobiles report sales monthly. These numbers are seasonally adjusted by the U.S. Department of Commerce and are available to the public one to five business days after the end of each month. lots set up in shopping center parking lots around the city contribute to a number of problems, including the posting of illegal signs and blowing trash. Existing zoning allows for several sales events Noun 1. sales event - an occasion (usually brief) for buying at specially reduced prices; "they held a sale to reduce their inventory"; "I got some great bargains at their annual sale" cut-rate sale, sale to be held on a commercial property provided that the duration of the sale does not exceed 10 days in any 90-day period on each property. Palmdale has at least five shopping centers with parking lots large enough to host tent sales, city officials said. Dealers from the Palmdale Auto Mall requested that the city amend the ordinance to mirror Lancaster's ordinance, limiting sales to no more than four per year citywide. ``I don't want to be repairing these cars and seeing the sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. dollars going elsewhere,'' said Lou Gonzales, one of the dealers at Palmdale's auto mall. The ordinance being crafted would cover car, boat, motorcycle and recreational-vehicle sales. |
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