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Planning commission approves automobile-storage permit with time limits after neighborhood concern
Summary
After staff recommended denial citing increased industrial traffic through a residential area, the Planning Commission recommended approval of a conditional use permit for a vehicle-storage facility at 2770 Saint Julian Avenue with conditions restricting commercial vehicle movements and adding a two-year sunset on the storage permit.
The Norfolk Planning Commission on July 15 recommended approval of a conditional use permit for an automobile-storage facility at 2770 Saint Julian Avenue, but attached conditions that commissioners said address neighborhood concerns about industrial traffic through residential streets.
Planning staff recommended denial, saying the proposed auto-storage facility would intensify industrial activity accessed through an existing residential neighborhood and increase truck traffic. Commissioners heard that the site will also accommodate a contractor’s office that is allowed by-right under the industrial zoning.
Russell, the planner who presented the item, told commissioners the parcel is zoned IG (general industrial) and that an auto-storage use requires a conditional use permit. Staff proposed several standard conditions — a tied site plan, lighting shielding, dumpster enclosure and restrictions on razor wire — and recommended denial because the location funnels industrial traffic through Saint Julian Avenue.
Applicant Brandon Faughnen said his family operates a small hauling business with four dump trucks and currently stores those vehicles off-site. He said the primary use will remain his hauling business; the conditional use permit would allow a second, long-term storage business for boats, RVs and other recreational vehicles for residents. Faughnen told the commission the storage would be gated and keyed, that employees and commercial vehicles would be limited to daytime hours and that the lot would be accessed primarily off Tidewater Drive.
Commission discussion focused on traffic routing, hours of commercial vehicle movement and how to limit neighborhood impacts. Commissioners modified staff conditions: they kept limits on commercial vehicle movements (6 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and added a condition that auto-storage customer access would be limited to 6 a.m.–10 p.m., seven days a week. They also changed the two-year sunset to start from the date the business license for the storage operation is issued, so a return to the commission would be required if the operator does not progress to a permanent site plan.
The commission voted to recommend approval of the CUP with the revised conditions. Several commissioners said they supported the limited, time-bound approval so the applicant could proceed through site-plan review while protections for the neighborhood were enforced. The recommendation will go to City Council for final action.
