Car dealer stakes out future site

By Larry Hurrle - Argus Observer
Thursday, March 22, 2007 1:03 PM PDT

PAYETTE - If everything goes according to plan, Payette County could have its own “auto mall” bordering Interstate 84 by the fall of 2008.

Payette County Commissioners Monday approved a request by Mike Hanigan and Kevin Hanigan to change the zoning designation on an 15-acre parcel of land south of Fruitland near the Exit 3 interchange from agriculture to commercial 2.

The move would allow the Hanigans to consolidate General Motors automobile dealerships in Payette and Ontario at the Fruitland site.

“The comp plan is in line with what I am requesting,” Mike Hanigan told commissioners during a public hearing on the request. “I am doing everything in my power to remain an Idaho dealer.”

Mike Hanigan told commissioners of his plans to bring the General Motors dealerships in Payette and Ontario to this location, while leaving the Chrysler dealership at its location in Ontario. He said the current location of the Hanigan Chrysler dealership at East Idaho Avenue and East Lane was difficult to beat because of traffic. In the future, he said, he would love to be able to incorporate that to the Fruitland location as well.

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Hanigan said Monday was a key day in the development planning because an application for a rural community block grant of $500,000 was due later in the afternoon. The grant would help build an access road from U.S. Highway 30 to the land Hanigan owns.

“We are going out on a limb coming out here,” Hanigan said about his plans. “It’s a little scary for us to leave the local traffic in Ontario.”

Hanigan relayed a story of his father buying a 5-acre farm that was “way out of town.” That farm is now the Hanigan Chevrolet dealership in Payette.

Hanigan said General Motors was not interested in the Fruitland location when he first approached them two years ago. Now, he said, because of the growth and interest in the area, GM is on-board.

“It’s going to be a pretty nice auto mall out there,” he said. “We are the perfect retail business to be located out here. This is the only piece of property that works for me in Payette County.”

Hanigan said he currently owns 18 acres of ground in Ontario and, if his plans in Payette County fall through, he will build on the Oregon land.

During public testimony, not one person stood in opposition to the Hanigan proposal, while four people spoke in favor of dealership.

One person, however, threw a wrench in the planning Monday afternoon.

Randy Sarchiapone, a farmer that owns land immediately east of the Hammer Store property owned by Greg Frates and HUB Enterprises LLC, balked at deeding a 30-foot strip of land to the county for a road.

HUB Enterprises, in a statement submitted to the commissioners, also agreed to give a 30-foot strip of land for the road.

“I’m all for the program and I back him (Hanigan) 100 percent,” Sarchiapone said. “I’m reserved about letting the county have 30 feet of my land, though. That totals almost one acre of land and I lose an inch of water because one acre is donated. Once you lose an inch of water, you never get it back.”

Hanigan said he appreciated all the support that has been shown for his business venture, but said Sarchiapone’s comments caught him by surprise.

“I feel like I just got kicked in the gut a little bit, Randy,” he said. “When we talked … I thought we were good to go.”

Hanigan went on to say if Sarchiapone does not want to give the land for the road, there will be other venues that can be considered, which will exclude his land from development.

Sarchiapone said his land was currently for sale, but commissioners said if he does not allow development, he could see the Idaho Department of Transportation pass him by for access off U.S. Highway 30. Access at the eastern edge of the HUB Enterprises land, which houses The Hammer Store, would mean no access from U.S. 30 for more than 1,000 feet to the east — well beyond the boundary of Sarchiapone’s land.

Hanigan said a dealership of his size could survive with a well and septic system until the City of Fruitland is able to extend its city water and sewer coverage to that location.

“We can wait three, four or five years for the city to get the sewer and water out there,” Hanigan said, pointing out Fruitland has claimed the area in its impact zone. “Our first building would have 45 to 50 employees. A small, domestic well and septic system would be adequate.”

Kevin Hanigan said plans for the dealership all hinge on a grant to put in the road.

Currently, he said, plans are to be in the building and operating by the end of October 2008.

“The steps to progress and the steps to growth are what we are doing here,” Mike Hanigan said. “The greatest future for Payette County is Exit 3 off Interstate 84.”