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Planning and Zoning Commission backs specific-use permit for farm storage using shipping containers
Summary
The Mount Pleasant Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend approval of an ordinance allowing owner Richard Hess to use shipping containers integrated into an accessory structure for agricultural implement and equipment storage, subject to staff conditions on siding and permitting.
The Mount Pleasant Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 11 recommended approval of an ordinance that would allow property owner Richard Hess to use storage containers as part of an accessory structure for farm implement and equipment storage on ranchland adjacent to commercial and industrial parcels.
The action came after planning staff described the request, explained that the proposed use is unusual under current city code and recommended approval with conditions requiring proper siding and permitting. A public speaker, the property owner, said the containers are already placed on the site and described the intended use as “to keep them out of the weather.”
Planning staff told the commission the case is filed as 02/2024-2001 and that the property is adjacent to the city limits and near a fireworks stand on Sixteenth Street. Staff said the proposed structure would include shipping containers as side walls and is being requested for agricultural storage because the parcel is ranch land; city code generally allows shipping containers only in commercial and industrial zones for storage. The planner recommended conditions that would require appropriate siding and compliance with building permits and limited the authorized use to agricultural storage.
Richard Hess, identified in the record as the applicant and property owner, told the commission the storage buildings “will be about 50 foot to the right of where they are now” and that he planned to store tractors, trailers and feed. “We got 3 trailers that’s up there now. It could be under that. Keep them out of the weather,” Hess said.
During public comment, the applicant also said the containers were already placed on the site when staff informed him the arrangement required the commission’s approval; the applicant said they would remain in place rather than be moved pending the process. The planning staff noted that, because the property borders industrial and commercial zoning and the use would be limited to agricultural storage, staff found the proposal compatible with adjacent land uses and recommended approval with the stated conditions.
Commissioners moved and seconded a motion to approve the ordinance with staff recommendations and conditions, and the motion passed. The minutes from the Jan. 14, 2025 commission meeting were also approved earlier in the session.
The planning director reported one administrative plat approval and briefly described a separate senior tax credit housing project on Tennyson Road that recently received city council support; staff said that project will return to the commission if it secures state tax-credit funding and requires site-plan review.
What happens next: the commission acts as a recommending body to city council on zoning and specific-use requests, so the ordinance recommendation will be forwarded to city council for final action consistent with the municipal review process and applicable code requirements.
