AUBURN – A plan to put more zoning decisions in staff hands will wait until another City Council meeting.

Councilors talked for 90 minutes, discussing a zoning amendment that would let staff decide if businesses that don’t fit zoning rules may expand.

At the end, Jim McPhee, a private planner representing local car dealer Scott Thayer, asked councilors to let the issue stay on the table while he worked with staff to clarify some parts of the amendment.

The issue has been on the City Council’s table since May, and Thayer said last month he was frustrated by the delay.

“I want to get this right,” McPhee told councilors. “If you table it, I’ll deal with Scott.”

Thayer wants to add about 280 square feet to his 780-square-foot building on his Minot Street car lot. But his lot doesn’t fit city zoning rules. According to city rules, he needs to hire an engineer to design the changes and pay a $500 fee to have the issue reviewed by the city Planning Board.

“He has no guarantee that they will even approve,” McPhee told councilors. “He spends all this money just to have the right to ask.”

McPhee’s amendment would let businesses like Thayer’s ask city staff for approval for expansions of less than 25 percent of existing square footage. If staff doesn’t agree, the business could appeal to the Planning Board for a $150 filing fee.

Councilor Marcel Bilodeau said he didn’t like burdening staff with that much responsibility.

“We would essentially dump the whole thing in your lap, and it’s your decision whether or not to hand out waivers,” Bilodeau said. “I don’t like it.”

McPhee said he wanted to make changes to the amendment. First he wanted to waive the filing fee entirely, so small businesses could appeal a staff decision without paying. He also wanted to limit future expansions down to the size of the original structure.

McPhee said he would work with city planning staff to revise the amendment.

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