Escondido

A split Escondido City Council voted Wednesday night to allow the construction of a new Mercedes-Benz automobile dealership outside the city’s Auto Park.

The dealership will be built on a vacant 11-acre parcel on the southeast corner of Interstate 15 and 9th Street, half a mile or so from the five other automobile dealerships that are grouped together in the Escondido Auto Park.

The land originally was intended to be used for low-density residential development.

Opposition to the Mercedes-Benz dealership was voiced by nearby residents, who said a new-car lot was incompatible with their residential neighborhood. Also opposed were the Auto Park dealers, who argued that all new automotive sales outlets in the city should be grouped together in the Auto Park on the west side of I-15 off Valley Parkway.

But property owner Jack Raymond said Mercedes-Benz insists on sites with direct freeway exposure and access.

The majority of the City Council agreed that commercial development of the site was inevitable but compromised by ordering a deed restriction that no other dealerships be allowed on the site until the Auto Park is filled. An attorney for the Auto Park argued that such a deed restriction is unenforceable.

City officials estimate the Mercedes-Benz dealership will generate $250,000 a year in sales taxes for the city.

Voting in favor of the general plan amendment were Mayor Ernie Cowan and council members Jim Rady and Doris Thurston. Councilman Jerry Harmon opposed the action, and Councilman Doug Best abstained because some of the dealerships at the Auto Park are sponsors of his Big-Band music show on a local radio station.