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Record of Proceedings

Somerville City Council Licenses and Permits Committee Meeting – April 9, 2026

Meeting Portal — Thursday, April 9, 2026
BodySomerville, Massachusetts
SessionMeeting Portal
DateThursday, April 9, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

Welcome to the licenses and permits committee meeting of the Somerville City Council on April 8th.

0:10

I'm Emily Hart, Ward Counselor from Ward 7.

0:14

And we're joined tonight by Clerk Michael Potier and other members of the committee.

0:20

I will read the notice.

0:45

Thank you.

0:46

All right, clerk, can you please call the role to establish quorum?

0:50

Absolutely.

0:51

Counselor Davis here.

0:53

Councilor Wheeler.

0:54

Here.

0:55

Chair Hart.

0:56

Here.

0:56

You have a quorum.

0:58

All right.

0:59

Thank you so much.

1:01

So the first item on the agenda is approving the minutes from the last meeting, which was March 25th.

1:08

Are there any comments or questions about those minutes?

1:12

Okay, seeing none, we'll lay those on the table for approval at the end of the meeting.

1:17

We do have a very short one item agenda tonight.

1:21

And it is a public hearing.

1:24

It is a for a new used car dealer class two license.

1:30

And do we have is there someone here who is the applicant or representative to speak on this item?

1:39

Madam Chair, I do see a hand raised.

1:42

Excellent.

1:44

Is it she, Mr.

1:46

She?

1:46

Hey, how's it going?

1:48

Hi, I'm Alan.

1:49

Hi, Alan.

1:50

Can you guys hear me?

1:51

Yes.

1:52

I'm not sure why.

1:53

That's not allowing me to like talk.

1:55

I don't think or I don't think the camera or anything's coming on.

1:57

Sorry about that.

1:59

No problem.

1:59

We can we can hear you.

2:01

Okay, perfect.

2:02

So if you'd like to tell us a little bit about your application and your business, that was absolutely.

2:09

So this is a car rental business that I basically started uh two years ago around my sophomore year college.

2:14

And now I'm a senior in college, just finishing up and really just looking to do car rentals and have a car dealership from the same location, basically turn one customers into two since they're pretty related to each other.

2:26

And we do have a big enough space.

2:28

So this, I guess it's just another thing we want to tackle on.

2:32

Okay.

2:33

All right.

2:34

Um are there any before I open the public hearing?

2:41

Other um other committee members, do you have any questions?

2:48

Yes.

2:49

Counselor Wheeler.

2:51

Hi, um, I'm excited to hear about this and and welcome.

2:54

Um, just to sort of clarify, so uh I'm seeing here this is talking about 45 vehicles outside.

3:02

I'm sure there's some inevitable blurring of the lines between these two different businesses that you're talking about having in the same place.

3:09

Yep.

3:10

I I have not heard anything from anybody who lives around there about ah, there's there's so many vehicles outside or whatever.

3:17

Yeah, this map is very helpful.

3:18

I just wanted to get a little clearer on these are all on your own lot.

3:23

They're not parked on the street.

3:25

No, no, absolutely not.

3:27

Um, so we actually have 93 vehicles as is right now.

3:32

They never sit because they're rental vehicles, they're always out on the road.

3:36

So we have never have to use all the parking spots, not even half of it.

3:40

So this 40 car outside is mainly just for the dealership inventory.

3:44

And um, that also ties along with our rentals because they could be used for both things.

3:50

A customer could come back from a rental booking and want to buy this car and we could take care of it for them.

3:55

Thanks so much.

3:57

Absolutely.

3:58

Thank you.

4:03

Okay, great.

4:04

Great.

4:04

And um, how long have you been operating the rental business?

4:08

So I started this back in 2024, uh, April 26, April 26th, 2024.

4:15

Okay, wonderful.

4:16

Have you had any uh go ahead.

4:19

No, no, no, I nothing.

4:21

I was just gonna ask have you had any complaints um from neighbors or or customers or um, you know, other uh folks in the city for that?

4:30

No, never.

4:31

We actually have one of the highest five-star ratings, like out of all car rentals um in the area.

4:36

And if you know the app Toro, we're rated number one in New England um across 147,000 um businesses.

4:44

Um so that's where we usually get most of our customers, but we also rent direct off our site to avoid tourist fees.

4:51

Um, Toro, it's basically like an Airbnb for cars.

4:54

It's uh it's an app.

4:56

Yes, wonderful.

4:57

Well, congrats on thank you so much.

4:59

I really appreciate it.

5:00

Yes.

5:01

Okay.

5:02

Well, so if there are any members of the public here who would like to speak to it, I declare the public hearing open.

5:10

So please just raise your hand and your virtual hand, and you'll be be recognized to speak.

5:24

Okay.

5:25

All right.

5:26

So I declare this public hearing closed in that case.

5:32

And is there any discussion from the from the committee?

5:41

Okay.

5:43

All right.

5:45

So I'm um I think this sounds uh great.

5:50

And I'm in favor of recommending this for approval.

5:55

Um, and motion that we uh recommend it for approval.

6:02

Um so uh clerk Potier, can we vote on that as as well as the minutes?

6:09

Um chair, absolutely.

6:11

Uh before taking a vote, I'll just read the item into the record.

6:14

Thank you.

6:14

Um this is item two, referred for recommendation.

6:17

New used car dealer, class two license, Zelux Auto Group, 20 Cumming Street, zero vehicles inside, 45 vehicles outside, hours Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.

6:26

to 6 p.m., Saturday, 8 a.m.

6:28

to 2 p.m., and Sunday closed.

6:31

Calling roll on the minutes and item number two.

6:36

Councillor Davis.

6:37

Yes, Councilor Wheeler.

6:39

Yes, Chair Hart.

6:41

Yes.

6:42

Those minutes are accepted, and this item is recommended to be approved.

6:45

Okay, thank you so much.

6:47

And congratulations, Alan.

6:49

And just a reminder that this is not the end of the approval process.

6:53

Um, it has to be approved by the full council and signed by the mayor, and you'll be notified when the um when it's finally approved.

7:02

Perfect.

7:03

Thank you guys so much.

7:04

I really appreciate it.

7:05

And I really appreciate all your time and everything.

7:07

Thank you guys.

7:08

Thank you.

7:09

All right.

7:10

Thank you.

7:11

Um do I hear a motion to adjourn?

7:16

So moved.

7:18

Thank you.

7:20

On adjournment, Councillor Davis.

7:22

Yes.

7:23

Counselor Wheeler.

7:24

Yes.

7:25

Chair Hart.

7:26

Yes.

7:27

This committee is adjourned.

7:28

All right.

7:29

Thank you all.

7:30

Thank you all.

7:31

Bye-bye.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Miscellaneous█████████████████████████████████████████████47%
Procedural██████████████████████████27%
Licenses And Permits█████████████████████████26%
Summary of Proceedings

Somerville City Council Licenses and Permits Committee Meeting – April 9, 2026

Note: The meeting minutes and transcript both state the meeting occurred on April 8, 2026, but the provided instruction specifies the date as April 9, 2026. This summary uses the instructed date while noting the discrepancy.

The Licenses and Permits Committee met via Zoom at 6:00 p.m. on April 9, 2026, chaired by Councilor Emily Hardt. The meeting had a single substantive agenda item, a public hearing for a new used car dealer license, and was adjourned at 6:07 p.m.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes of the March 25, 2026 meeting (ID # 26-0505) by a roll call vote of 3–0 (Councilors Davis, Wheeler, Hardt).

Discussion Items

  • New Used Car Dealer Class 2 License – Xeluxe Auto Group, 20 Cummings Street: Applicant Alan Xie described his existing car rental business (operating since April 2024) and sought to add used car sales at the same location. The license would allow 0 vehicles inside and 45 vehicles outside, operating Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–2 p.m., closed Sunday. Xie confirmed all 45 vehicles would be on his own property, not on public streets. He noted his rental fleet of 93 vehicles is rarely all on-site because they are constantly rented, leaving space for used car inventory. Councilor Wheeler asked about parking compliance, and Xie stated there have been no complaints. Chair Hardt inquired about the rental business’s track record; Xie reported no complaints and a top ranking on the Turo platform. No public speakers participated in the hearing.

Key Outcomes

  • Recommendation to Approve License: The committee voted 3–0 (Davis, Wheeler, Hardt) to recommend approval of the new used car dealer license for Xeluxe Auto Group. Chair Hardt reminded the applicant that final approval requires a vote by the full City Council and the mayor’s signature.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the licenses and permits committee meeting of the Somerville City Council on April 8th. I'm Emily Hart, Ward Counselor from Ward 7. And we're joined tonight by Clerk Michael Potier and other members of the committee. I will read the notice. Thank you. All right, clerk, can you please call the role to establish quorum? Absolutely. Counselor Davis here. Councilor Wheeler. Here. Chair Hart. Here. You have a quorum. All right. Thank you so much. So the first item on the agenda is approving the minutes from the last meeting, which was March 25th. Are there any comments or questions about those minutes? Okay, seeing none, we'll lay those on the table for approval at the end of the meeting. We do have a very short one item agenda tonight. And it is a public hearing. It is a for a new used car dealer class two license. And do we have is there someone here who is the applicant or representative to speak on this item? Madam Chair, I do see a hand raised. Excellent. Is it she, Mr. She? Hey, how's it going? Hi, I'm Alan. Hi, Alan. Can you guys hear me? Yes. I'm not sure why. That's not allowing me to like talk. I don't think or I don't think the camera or anything's coming on. Sorry about that. No problem. We can we can hear you. Okay, perfect. So if you'd like to tell us a little bit about your application and your business, that was absolutely. So this is a car rental business that I basically started uh two years ago around my sophomore year college. And now I'm a senior in college, just finishing up and really just looking to do car rentals and have a car dealership from the same location, basically turn one customers into two since they're pretty related to each other. And we do have a big enough space. So this, I guess it's just another thing we want to tackle on. Okay. All right. Um are there any before I open the public hearing? Other um other committee members, do you have any questions? Yes. Counselor Wheeler. Hi, um, I'm excited to hear about this and and welcome.

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