Lloyd Bridges Traveland in Chelsea is a step closer to being able to sell, rent and service recreational vehicles in a restricted commercial district near Interstate 94 in the city thanks to a zoning text change.

Tuesday night, the Chelsea City Council unanimously approved this special use in the C-4 district and now the businessman will need to go back to the Planning Commission for a special use permit.

In the meantime, he will be allowed to continue storing extra RVs on the lot known as the Palmer Ford mid-lot in Chelsea’s “Southtown area” near I-94.

Two weeks ago, Jerry Bridges of Lloyd Bridges Traveland asked for the ability to show customers and store RVs in the parking lot site, which has an entrance off Old Manchester Road across from the fairgrounds.

In September, Biff Weber filed a petition with the Chelsea Planning Commission for the zoning change on behalf of Bridges, and the planners unanimously denied the request but the City Council overruled the veto and approved the special use Tuesday night.

The Planning Commissioners said that recreational vehicles were out of place on the site and posed a visual impact in an area that’s supposed to be a transitional area as drivers head into the city’s downtown.

Bridges appealed to the City Council, explaining that he has be forced to change the way he does business in this economy and needs to buy RV’s in bulk in the winter. He said he needed a place to store the extra vehicles that didn’t fit on his main showplace and parking area.

The family-owned business has been in Chelsea for 33 years.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page.