Martin County LPA OKs revised final site plan for Parrot Circle storage facility

The Martin County Local Planning Agency unanimously approved a revised major final site plan on June 5 for a two-story self-storage facility proposed at 450 Southeast Parrot Circle in Stuart.

Staff presented the application as compliant with the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan and recommended approval. Brian Elam, principal planner with the Growth Management Department, told the board the application by HJA Design Studio LLC on behalf of Land America 225 LLC proposes a two-story, climate-controlled self storage building with associated infrastructure on roughly 4.5 acres of an 11.1-acre parcel and includes a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation.

The application matters locally because the site fronts South Canner Highway and abuts preserved wetlands and upland preserve areas that are managed under an existing preserve area management plan (PAMP). The PAMP and previously established buffers remain in place, the planner said, and staff found the revised plan complies with applicable regulations and the county’s comprehensive plan.

Elam said the site was previously approved in 2012 as a 57-lot recreational vehicle park and that a mandatory rezoning in December 2022 placed the parcel’s low-density portion into an RS-3 district. He told the board the proposed development sits entirely within the community commercial–zoned portion of the property and is accessed from Southeast Parrot Circle.

Erica Beitler, the applicant’s agent with HJA Design Studio, presented the project and described the site design. Beitler said the proposed building footprint is 59,932 square feet and the project would preserve about "77% of the site in open space," much of which is wetland, buffer and stormwater area. She also said tenant parking and about 20 outdoor RV/trailer parking spaces are provided in a gated northern area and that the building would include an elevator and ADA-compliant features.

Staff and the applicant described architectural and setback details that the planner said meet Article 4, Division 20 commercial design standards, and showed that building height (30 feet, 6 inches) and coverage (about 12%) fall within allowed limits. Elam confirmed there are no proposed changes to the preserve areas or to the preserve area management plan with this application.

No interveners appeared and no public commenters spoke on the item. After brief board questions about the number and location of RV parking spaces and the presence of an elevator, a commissioner moved to approve the revised final site plan; the motion passed unanimously.

The approval was for the site-plan application only; subsequent development permits and any required infrastructure permits will be reviewed under separate procedures and must demonstrate compliance with buffering, wetland protection, landscaping and traffic requirements at the time of those applications.

Clarifying details captured in the meeting record show two different numeric references to building area: staff’s summary and the applicant’s presentation both reference the 59,932-square-foot footprint and the applicant separately described "overall" area as "about 19,000 to 20,000 square feet" during the presentation. The transcript contains both figures; the precise finished-gross-floor-area to be used for building-permit calculations was not specified at the hearing.