Severance planning commission backs amendment to allow batting cages inside storage unit with 30-day compliance condition

The Town of Severance Planning Commission on Sept. 17 recommended that the Town Council approve an amendment to an existing Use by Special Review permitting a batting-cage business to operate inside one unit of an existing storage building, with a condition that the applicant obtain a certificate of occupancy within 30 days of council approval.

The recommendation, passed by unanimous roll call, follows months of discussions between staff, the building official and the property owner after staff became aware in December that the batting operation was active inside a building rated for storage. Planning staff and the town’s chief building official identified multiple code issues that must be corrected before the building can be legally used for a “B” (business) occupancy.

Town planner Shaney Porter told commissioners the structure was issued a certificate of occupancy as an S-1 storage facility and “is now being used as batting cages and baseball training, which is a B occupancy,” and that the change of use requires a new certificate of occupancy under the International Building Code. Porter read a list of outstanding violations: the building was not designed for business…