Sick of seeing more storage units in Vero Beach? City Hall wants to do something about it

VERO BEACH — Amid a county-wide boom in self-storage facilities — and outcry from residents — the city is imposing a pause.

The City Council last week approved a 180-day moratorium on permits for self-storage facilities in areas near downtown while city staff drafts permanent legislation. The move comes after it approved two storage facilities in prominent spots: one beside the police station at 901 20th Street, or S.R. 60, and another just three months ago at 1801 U.S. 1, the site of the former Indian River Press Journal building.

The city wants to limit storage facilities partly to maintain its character, but also to prioritize business uses more aligned with the downtown area, according to Jason Jeffries, planning and development director. Despite the S.R. 60 storage facility being so close to downtown, the area already was zoned to allow for that project.

"That's where you see uses allowed in that district that don't really match up ... and you end up with the use I think people are saying doesn't really belong there," Jeffries said.

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The sudden spike in storage facilities is not isolated to downtown Vero Beach. They've been cropping up across Indian River County at an unprecedented rate, according to Ryan Sweeney, county chief of current development, although there are some differences between storage facilities approved in unincorporated county areas versus those in the city of Vero Beach.

"Some other places, it's just entirely self storage, but here in the (unincorporated) county, it's a combination of the self-storage building along with the RV and boat surface storage," Sweeney explained. "There are three of those types of projects being built as we speak, all in the central-county area."

All three combination storage facilities — each located outside city limits — are under construction along U.S. 1. In addition, three more have been approved: one along Oslo Road near 43rd Avenue; another on S.R. 60 near Interstate 95; and the third along U.S. 1 south of Wabasso, Sweeney said.

And that's not all. About three more are in the early stages of the application process, he said.

Why so many storage units?

Both Sweeney and Jeffries attributed the storage-facility boom to the Treasure Coast's increasing population. Indian River County's population was projected to surpass 167,000 last year, which is up about 30,000 since 2010, according to U.S. census data.

Leslie Fuqua, executive director of the Florida Self Storage Association — the trade group representing self-storage facilities across the state — declined to comment for this story.

As more northerners flock to Florida, it's likely they're looking for somewhere to store their excess belongings, Sweeney said. And with Florida's lack of basements, all that extra stuff has to go somewhere.

"Up until the past two years, I think we reviewed and approved maybe one self-storage facility every two years," said Sweeney, who's been working for the county about a decade. "And then we've seen like 10 in the past two years."

As Vero Beach eyes permanent restrictions, the county already has some in place, Sweeney said. Storage facilities are restricted mostly from retail districts in the county, which is why they often crop up along less-populated sections of highway where businesses are more industrial-focused, he said.

"The good thing is we're not going to see those facilities take up a prime corner at, say, U.S. 1 and pick whatever major street," Sweeney said. "But we will see probably more and more of them along that stretch of U.S. 1 in south, central and even northern county."

Changes coming to city code

The 20th Street storage facility, sitting on a prime lot that has been vacant for years, is under construction. It will consist of four buildings — one of which is planned to be three stories — for a total of 82,000 square feet, according to Jeffries.

The public response to that facility prompted the moratorium, he said. The City Council last week approved the moratorium 4-1, with Councilman John Carroll dissenting. Carroll wants to limit storage facilities near downtown, he said, but he disagrees with imposing a moratorium.

"The impact can be staggering because of the financial burden that you're placing on the builder-developer/owner when these moratoriums are put into effect," Carroll said. "In essence, you're stopping people from doing what they thought they could do to their property, and that's my big concern."

City officials aimed to keep the moratorium narrow and not affect other applications, such as restaurants and retail, Jeffries said. It only limits soon-to-be-restricted uses: storage, plus a few other outdated uses, such as plant nurseries, that are being removed.

As of the council's decision, there were no other applications submitted for storage units within city limits, Jeffries said.

"There's still more discussions with the planning board as I refine this ordinance," he said. "But right now, what I was proposing in that draft is for [storage facilities] to remain in the C-1 zoning, which is our highway-oriented zoning ... and then at the industrial zoning district."

Thomas Weber is TCPalm's Indian River County government watchdog reporter. You can reach him at thomas.weber@tcpalm.com or 813-545-9113. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Sick of seeing more storage units in Vero Beach? City Hall wants to do something