By: Bryan Boggiano
Self-storage facilities could expand beyond Corporate Park if the city commission allows.
They’ll discuss whether they should allow self-storage centers in the Neighborhood Business Zoning District under conditional use on Wednesday.
Typically, businesses in this zone meet neighborhood commercial needs. For the most part, they include convenience stores and benefit people within a half-mile radius. They serve as buffer zones between neighborhoods and commercial districts.
In 2009, the city commission voted to allow self-storage facilities only in the interior of Corporate Park, not directly on Coral Ridge Drive or Sample Road, for aesthetic concerns. These included Sample Road’s proximity to the Sawgrass Expressway, the location as an entry point into Coral Springs, and the proximity of residential neighborhoods.
Any self-storage facility developed before 2010 was not affected. One facility north of the Sawgrass Expressway was built prior to the city annexing it.
“This zoning constraint…has a prohibitive effect on the construction of new self-storage facilities in Coral Springs,” wrote Attorney Katie Edwards-Walpole of Becker and Poliakoff. “A limited access self-storage facility…would service the needs of the surrounding residential area.”
Edwards-Walpole cited a 2020 Self Storage Demand Study and wrote that 64 percent of people want a facility close to their home. She wrote that meets a continuous residential need and that there would be investments made in security.
City staff disagreed with the reasoning and recommended that the commission vote against the expansion, explaining that self-storage is typically a heavy industrial business.
City officials also note that there are only 2.53 acres of land left in the zoning district to develop and that this land should be preserved for something with better economic opportunity and use.
“It is in the best interest of the city to focus on development that will generate the highest value and maximize productivity,” wrote Director of Economic Development Kristi J. Barlett in a letter. “A self-storage facility has limited job creation and is unsuitable in this zoning district.”
Analyzing 16 nearby cities and those with similar layouts, 14 do not allow self-storage units in neighborhood business districts. Two, Tamarac and Weston, allow with special exceptions.
They also raised questions about the study. According to city documents, most households in Coral Springs are located, at most, 3.5 miles from a self-storage facility, and only 1.25% of all households would have to drive more than 10 minutes to a facility.
Additionally, two facilities are planned that conform to city regulations. In 2018, Safe and Secure Self-Storage was constructed along Coral Ridge Drive and Northwest 41st Street. In 2020, Coral Spring Self Storage was permitted to be constructed at 3567 Northwest 124th Avenue.
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