WATSONVILLE >> Body By Hank, an automotive restoration shop that has operated on Grove Street for more than 30 years, is set to become bigger. The Watsonville Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve a trio of documents to allow for the construction of a new 9,984-square-foot shop on adjacent property at its Tuesday meeting.

Associate planner Ivan Carmona said the project had initially been approved by the commission in 2020, including a special use permit with a design review, lot consolidation and environmental review. However, the entitlement expired in December 2022 because property owner Hank Wempe was unable to submit a building permit application at the time. Nonetheless, Wempe was able to move forward with the lot consolidation, which had recently been recorded with Santa Cruz County, and new application was submitted March 5 by applicant Ron Gordon.

The proposed project is the same as the one approved in 2020, which calls to demolish an existing industrial building on the lot to build a 9,984-square-foot auto restoration shop at 140 Grove St. The one-story building will feature a vehicle restoration area, paint booth, office area, two public and one employee restroom, covered vehicle entrance and mezzanine storage area. The new shop will provide collision repairs, while the existing Body By Hank at 144 Grove St. will focus on body restorations of classic vehicles. The proposed hours would be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Carmona said the site has a General Plan zoning designation of “industrial,” and auto body shops are subject to special use permits. Staff determined all findings supported special use and design review permits. As an infill project, Carmona said it met the qualifications to be categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, meaning it is not required to undergo a comprehensive environmental review as the surrounding areas are considered “not environmentally sensitive.”

Commissioner Lowell Hurst asked how many parking spaces there would be. Carmona said the Watsonville Municipal Code requires a minimum five spaces for garages that are 3,000 square feet, with one additional space for each additional 800 square feet. However, Carmona said Body by Hank was different from other auto body shops in that it would be more for specialized restorations rather than having many vehicles present for collision repairs.

Chair Peter Radin asked how the former industrial building on the property was being used today. Carmona said it was mostly being used to store abandoned vehicles.

“This would be a big improvement to the site,” he said. “It would clean it up, take off the abandoned vehicles and other stuff and remove that old, abandoned, dilapidated building.”

Wempe said parking is an issue currently.

“We’ve got apartments on the next street,” he said. “Garbage day, they all park on my street. It’s a problem. The property across the street, we rent an empty lot, and so most, if anything, goes over there.”

Wempe said he and his wife, Leslie, hope to tear the vacant building down and make the property look good.

Commissioner Daniel Dodge asked Wempe what his vision for the expanded business was. Wempe said he built the current Body By Hank site when he was 26 and started with only two employees. Now, he said, it has outgrown its current space.

“Being there 30 years, I’ve learned what I need to make it more efficient,” he said. “We have storage above, so when we take the car apart, we don’t have it scattered across the shop. We can put it upstairs.”

Vice Chair Brando Sencion asked if the current Body By Hank building would be demolished. Wempe said it would not, and the plan was to operate in two separate buildings.

Hurst said the project was a good one for Watsonville.

“A good reputation goes a long way,” he said. “The applicant brings a good reputation along with some great history in Watsonville.”

Hurst described Body By Hank’s business model as “artistic in a motorized way.”

“That’s kind of a rare commodity in this day and age,” he said.

The commission voted 4-0 to approve a special use permit for the project. Commissioners Ed Acosta, Lucy Rojas and Jenni Veitch-Olson were absent.

The only other business item, a special use permit for a Quick Quack Car Wash on East Lake Avenue, was continued to the May 6 meeting, as Matt Orbach — interim assistant community development director — said the 30-day statutory waiting period for the text amendment to the city’s drive-thru facilities ordinance and property rezoning would not be complete until April 24, so the commission was not allowed to take action yet.