City Council reverses Planning Board, approves special-exception for Hillpoint Way self-storage

Palm Coast City Council voted to reverse the Planning and Land Development Regulation Board's denial and find the Hillpoint Way self-storage special-exception application consistent with the comprehensive plan and Unified Land Development Code, subject to staff-recommended conditions.

The decision came after Community Development planner Michael Hansen described the project and the staff recommendation for approval. "This particular request for the appeal is for a special exception to allow mini warehouse, or self storage, in our COM 2 zoning classification," Hansen said. He told council the site is about 6.8 acres along Pine Lakes Parkway and that the applicants proposed roughly 99,585 square feet of climate-controlled storage with about 850 storage units and roughly 26 outdoor spaces for boats or RVs.

Hansen told council staff's technical review found the proposed self-storage use would generate far fewer vehicle trips and far less sewer demand than a comparably sized COM-2 retail/shopping center. He cited the applicant's trip-generation estimate of about 44 daily trips and 15 afternoon peak-hour trips for the storage use compared with a theoretical 5,400 daily trips and 656 PM peak trips for a retail center of similar square footage. He also summarized sewer estimates the applicant provided: about 611 gallons per day for storage versus about 9,958 gallons per day for an intensive retail use.

The Planning and Land Development Regulation Board had denied the special exception by a 4-2 vote, citing concern that the proposed use could be incompatible with the COM-2 intent and might limit future commercial development. The applicant supplied a market-demand response showing a 3-mile trade area for climate-controlled storage with 3.9 rentable square feet per person (the industry benchmark is 8 square feet), which the applicant said demonstrated unmet demand for climate-controlled units in the immediate area.

Attorney Rob Merrill and representatives of Johnson Development Associates and the contract purchaser answered council's questions about market methodology, operations, buffering and architecture. Merrill said the developer is experienced, would operate the project long-term and had agreed to staff conditions. Applicant witness Natalie Smith summarized the trade-area analysis and occupancy metrics, saying comparable facilities in the trade area operate around 90 percent occupancy.

Councilman Gamborrow moved and Councilman Sullivan seconded a motion "that the City Council find that the following facts presented and reviewed here are competent substantial evidence to reverse the Planning and Land Development Regulation Board's actions that the application is consistent with the comprehensive plan, the Unified Land Development Code, and subject to the staff's recommendations." The motion passed unanimously among the members present (Gamborrow, Miller, Sullivan and Vice Mayor Pontieri). Mayor Norris was absent and appeared electronically at times but did not vote.

Council direction and next steps: the reversal grants the right to pursue the use but requires the applicant to return with a technical site plan and meet the nine staff conditions agreed in the record. Those conditions include an 8-foot decorative wall and screening where required, supplemental landscape approvals to the satisfaction of the city's landscape architect, hours-of-operation limits (no operation before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m.), limitations on outdoor storage to prevent the site becoming a salvage/junk yard and other standard site-development requirements. No variances to dimensional standards were requested or granted in this action.

Why it matters: the council explicitly weighed the special-exception criteria in the Land Development Code against competing commercial uses that could theoretically generate far greater traffic and sewer demand. By reversing the Planning Board, council prioritized the lower infrastructure impact and the applicant's proffered mitigation measures.

The council vote was recorded on the record as a reversal of the PLDRB denial; the applicant must still obtain technical site-plan approval and other development permits before construction.