Plan commission recommends PDD amendment to allow outdoor storage for Modine; homeowners voice traffic concerns

The Franklin City Plan Commission on March 20 recommended that the Common Council adopt an ordinance amending section 15-3-0444 of the Unified Development Ordinance to allow outdoor storage as a special use in Planned Development District 39, where Modine Manufacturing is proposed to locate.

The change would let outdoor storage occur only in limited parts of PDD 39 and subject to new design standards, including placement in side or rear yards, screening from public rights-of-way and neighboring properties, and size limits tied to the primary building on the lot. Planning staff recommended approval.

Planning staff introduced the item as a recurring request from property owners in the PDD and said the ordinance text would apply across the district but restrict outdoor storage to the more industrial business-park portion rather than the gateway frontage. “We are recommending approval,” said Marion, planning staff, after outlining the recommended design standards and noting that any change of use in a planned development is a major PDD amendment.

During the public hearing Joe Mercado, president of the Hidden Oaks Homeowners Association, told the commission he and residents are more concerned about traffic and public-safety impacts than the storage racks themselves. “We’ve got little children, we’ve got kids on their bikes, we’ve got families walking dogs, and we want to cut off a problem before it happens,” Mercado said, urging workplace routing, signage, and enforcement to keep truck and shortcutting traffic out of his subdivision.

Commissioners and staff discussed how the ordinance-level standards could require appropriate routing and signage, but noted that specific measures for a tenant would be addressed at the special-use/site-plan stage. Marion said the applicant’s proposed racking areas would need screening or additional landscaping and that staff has not completed a final visibility evaluation.

Eric Ortega, an architect working with the developer and Modine, said his team is preparing sight-line diagrams and coordinating with the tenant on site layout. Ortega said he and the developer have been working on the property since it was a shell and that final screening details will be addressed with the special-use submittal.

Alderman Day said several residents contacted his office and that the homeowner association has consolidated communications through Mercado. Commissioners noted that while signage and routing could be required as part of the special-use approval, enforcement and police patrols are separate tools residents can pursue.

The commission first voted to determine the proposed change to be a major PDD amendment and then voted to recommend approval of the ordinance amendment to the Common Council. Both motions carried with the ayes recorded by voice vote.

The recommendation sends the ordinance to the Common Council for final action; any tenant-specific outdoor storage and required mitigation measures (screening, routing, signage) will be considered under a later special-use/site-plan application.

Questions or additional comments from neighbors were directed to planning staff and the project applicant for follow-up as the site-level plans are refined.