Real estate developers Michael and Thomas Kinzler received a positive recommendation last week from the planning commission in Morris, Ill., regarding their proposal to convert the former Beatty Lumber Yard to a self-storage facility. The Kinzlers requested a zoning-text amendment to the Morris Municipal Code to build indoor and outdoor storage at 900 Wauponsee St., according to building and zoning officer Bill Cheshareck.
The property is north of the railroad tracks on the west side of Wauponsee Street. The commission voted to support the amendment, but had conditions in regard to site layout and the proposed outdoor storage, the source reported.
In a memo, city planner Mike Hoffman, vice president and principal of Teska Associates Inc., wrote that since self-storage facilities don’t generate sales-tax revenue, they shouldn’t receive prime locations, such as frontage along U.S. Route 6 or U.S. Route 47. However, he said storage businesses are a needed service in the community and don’t generate significant traffic. “Rather than introduce a new category of ‘indoor and outdoor storage,’ as listed in the request, we would recommended continuing to call such facilities by the self-storage category in the existing code,” he wrote.
The board also recommended any outdoor storage be screened from adjacent residential areas and meet the standards noted in the zoning ordinance. Any storage developments will also need site-plan approval as outlined in the ordinance.
Two members of the public were present at the Aug. 26 hearing, including Roger West, who’s recently purchased a property and is interested in converting it to self-storage, Cheshareck told the source. No one opposed the project. Committee member Jim Jennings, who’s in the self-storage business, abstained from voting to avoid a conflict of interest, the source reported.
The zoning amendment will be discussed at the Sept. 8 city-council meeting.
Sources:
- Morris Herald-News: Morris Planning Commission Recommends Self-Storage Facility Use
