07-13-11 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The applicants wish to make this approval permanent, rather than interim, as was the previous application. The proposed storage would cover just under 60,000 square feet, about 1.35 acres. The current interim use permit approved up to 12,000 square feet, not including access aisles. As noted, the stacks would be approximately five feet taller than the previous permit allowed. The applicants suggest that the soils beneath the property do not support construction of an extensive building area, and that the area is well screened by existing buildings from the street to the north. Since this site is zoned PUD, the City can consider this use without the need for variances or concern over technical variation from the outdoor storage rules of the industrial districts. However, for comparison purposes, the 1 -1 zoning would accommodate up to 60% of the site area of about 7.7 acres. The I -P zoning would accommodate just 10% of the that lot area (.77 acres), or 25% of the building area (about 4,000 square feet). The proposed storage amount lies between the allowances of the two industrial districts. Both districts have a current restriction for such storage of 8 feet of storage height. Finally when approved last year, the City required a maximum duration of 3 years as an interim use. This proposal would establish the storage as a potentially permanent use of the property. Summary and Recommendation The City has considered outdoor storage as an allowable use in more limited quantities and only under specific conditions. With this request, storage would become the predominant use of the property. As noted by the applicants, a combination of poor soils, lack of visibility and remote location suggest that this area will likely otherwise go unused for the foreseeable future. The advantage of outdoor storage of this type is that it does not create an investment in the property that would impede future development if such were to become more feasible in the future. The applicants further suggest that their storage materials are packaged and stacked so as to avoid unsightliness, and that their occupancy of the site as a business location removes the previous concern that storage was being used for non -local business. The applicants have been in contact with the fire official and have stated that they will be able to comply with the requirements of the fire code. As a PUD, the City has broad discretion to consider the potential use, including the kinds of conditions under which a PUD Permit would be issued. Such conditions could include additional screening if necessary, alternative locations or sizes of material stacking, and any required improvements to the site, and further, the PUD could include 13