Commission discusses storage facility plan

Aug. 16—A three-story self-storage unit is seeking a conditional-use permit to set up shop near the northwest corner of Higley and Williams Fields road.

The 122,000-square-foot building is proposed on 2.4 vacant acres, according to details discussed during a Planning Commission study session Aug. 2.

The applicant last year held two neighborhood meetings in February and in December to present the project. Six people attended the first meeting, according to staff.

"Some general feedback they heard from both meetings was to pay a little more attention to the landscape buffer along the west boundary," planner Samantha Novotny said.

She said there also were concerns, including for site safety, transients along the nearby railroad tracks and lighting.

Commissioner Lesley Davis asked if the neighborhood concerns about landscaping had been addressed in the plan presented to the town.

Novotny said that staff felt the landscape buffer met code and in fact exceeded the 30-foot setback by an additional 5 feet.

"I like the direction the building's going," Davis said. "I think it's a nice-looking building and the landscape did look like there was quite a bit there."

Commissioner Anthony Bianchi asked if a lighting proposal was submitted and Novotny responded that the photometric plan "will be meeting our standards."

Other than agreeing with staff's recommendation to break up the longer roof line of the building, Bianchi said the elevations looked "pretty decent."

Commissioner Charles Johnson asked if the facility would be open 24 hours.

"Is there access of traffic in any time of day and are there any security issues relating to that?" he said.

Novotny said she would ask about the hours of operation.

Chairman Jan Simon said he was perplexed by the placement of the main loading doors against residences to the east and not on the west side with Higley, the frontage road.

"We've got three stories of units with loading and unloading going into two doors that are basically facing the residential," he said. "When I look at it in my head I think it feels like it should go the other way.

"Also, from an aesthetics perspective, it just looks like it's facing an odd direction. I'm sure there's probably been some study that's happened with regards to why they did it that way."

Novotny said she didn't have a solid answer and would find out.

"I'm not opposed to the project," Simon said. "I think it's a great project. I like the building, I think it's a great use."

Novotny told the commissioners that the applicant has gone through first review and that the final presentation and staff report will give more analysis.

Staff did not respond to a question about when the proposal will return to commissioners for formal action.

The commission also gave input on a master site plan for a proposed "family friendly" commercial development, including an Andy's Frozen Custard, on 2.8 acres on the southwest corner of Lindsay and Baseline roads.

The Baseline Commercial proposal includes the 1,275-square-foot drive-thru custard shop in the center, an 1,880-square-foot Lube Xpress facility on the east and an 8,309-square-foot building housing a number of independent salon studios along the west portion of the site.

The developer is proposing 120 parking spots and an 8-foot perimeter block wall with a 40-foot landscape buffer along the south to block visibility of the site for the Porter Acres homes. The site is surrounded by a mix of commercial and residential uses.

Commissioner William Fay expressed concern with the site's proposed traffic configuration.

"My problem is that middle drive aisle not only is the backup for the drive-thru, it also lines up directly with the entrance onto Baseline," Fay said.

"If you have a backup, it's going to back up straight out onto the arterial roadway. It's not OK. If that driveway were offset somewhere, it would mitigate that possibility of cars backing up onto the arterial."

He asked staff to look into it.

"If it needs to be there, it probably meets standards by a little bit," Fay said. "If there isn't a strong reason and you were to offset, it would probably solve the problem."

Planner Sal DiSanto responded that staff will look into the possibility to offset the access point off Baseline Road.

Fay added that he didn't see a lot of discussion about traffic overall in regards to the project.

"This intersection is under capacity," he said. "It's not a bad intersection but it's also one that is notoriously understudied."

He said different development ideas have come forward near the intersection with counts that did not trigger the need for a traffic impact study.

"I think there is if everything were to come in on this intersection and do what it's supposed to do I think there would be a cumulative impact problem potentially and one that would slide underneath all of our analysis," Fay continued.

"Because each individual property seems to be close to but under the thresholds to drive a serious traffic impact analysis. That's more of a just file-it-away and if engineering is cool with it, I'm fine with it."