South Windsor says maybe to Tesla, as the electric vehicle maker works to be allowed to sell cars in Connecticut

Tesla Inc., which has struggled unsuccessfully for years to sell cars in Connecticut, was rebuffed by South Windsor planners who said the electric vehicle manufacturer is welcome, but not at its preferred site.

The Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night unanimously rejected a proposed Tesla sales and service shop. Unlike car dealers who have fiercely protected their turf by insisting Tesla’s direct-to-consumer model would hurt consumers and cost jobs, town planners said Tesla’s Buckland Road proposal is in the wrong location.

They suggested the electric vehicle manufacturer consider a different site in South Windsor. That was rejected by Tesla, which avoids joining dealerships clustered along busy roads and sells cars at or near malls to reach shoppers.

John Hauser, a Denver real estate developer working with Tesla, said the car maker will scout other towns. He told planners Tesla wanted a presence on Buckland Road — at the former LA Fitness health club that closed in June — because it’s an “evolving green energy company” that would benefit by its proximity to customers of the Apple store at Evergreen Walk and a planned Whole Foods market “and not Ford and Chevy.”

“I appreciate the fact that whether I did a poor job of explaining or whether you just don’t accept the fact we’re not a traditional car dealership there’s nothing I can do about that,” Hauser said. “But we’re probably not going to an alternative site down the road. We’re probably just going to go to the next town that views us differently.”

The General Assembly has repeatedly turned aside attempts by Tesla, other electric vehicle manufacturers and their allies to enact legislation allowing the sale of cars directly to consumers. State law permits vehicle sales only through car dealerships, a business model Tesla rejects.

Connecticut car buyers must travel to New York’s Westchester County, Boston or other Massachusetts cities to shop at a Tesla store.

Tesla’s application to South Windsor included a proposed sales shop that Hauser said he would strike from the application because it does not comply with Connecticut law. The car maker would have instead used the site for vehicle repair and charging and the sale of solar products, battery parts and other equipment.

The site selection ran aground on opposition from planners and some residents who said the Buckland Road Gateway Development Zone does not permit auto businesses and exceptions would lead to more car dealerships. Planners suggested alternatives, such as Route 5.

Car dealers who operate in most lawmakers’ House and Senate districts and are active in their communities have flexed their political muscle in the General Assembly to kill legislation over several years allowing Tesla to sell in Connecticut.

The Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association, which has led the opposition to Tesla, reminded planners that state law bars Tesla from operating as a sales business. Town approval of its application “would invite a plain violation of Connecticut law,” it said in a letter to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Two dealers repeated familiar arguments against the car maker. Bob Selig, a South Windsor resident and Ford dealer in Windsor, told planners that dealerships protect consumers who would be undermined by Tesla’s direct-to-consumer sales model.

Tyrrell Dabrowski, sales director for Hoffmann Auto Group, said Tesla sales will not lead to a rapid introduction of electric vehicles. “Direct sale EVs like Tesla are expensive luxury vehicles and they are a very small percentage of the vehicles sold,” he told the planning commission.

Dealers offer consumers a “robust selection” of EVs and hybrid vehicles, Dabrowski said.

Hoffman Auto Group last year sued Tesla, East Hartford and a development company that received town approval to open a Tesla service center and showroom. The dealership said East Hartford’s decision allowing the showroom violated Connecticut law.

East Hartford ultimately revoked its permits for Tesla.

The car dealers group also challenged Tesla in state Supreme Court over its attempt to sell cars from a Greenwich showroom. A Superior Court judge ruled in December 2018 that Tesla was illegally selling from its Greenwich gallery, though the company said it opened the Greenwich gallery to educate Connecticut residents about Tesla’s electric cars. Tesla operates a showroom at the site.

Tesla is leasing its electric vehicles from its Milford site, which the state Department of Motor Vehicles said in 2019 complies with state law because the car maker has a license to lease cars.

South Windsor Commissioner Stephanie Dexter, a Republican, said she’s optimistic Connecticut will eventually legalize direct vehicle sales.

“We’re all about choice,” she said.

Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.