Plan commission recommends allowing outdoor storage in PDD 39 with screening and other conditions

The Franklin City Plan Commission on March 20 recommended approval of an ordinance to amend UDO section 15-3-0444 to allow outdoor storage as a special use in Plan Development District 39, a mixed-use business park that includes the property at 3303 West Oakwood Road.

Planning staff said the amendment responds to repeated requests from businesses, including a recent request by Modine Manufacturing, and would apply across the district except for the Gateway frontage areas. Staff recommended design standards limiting outdoor storage to side or rear yards, requiring screening from rights-of-way and neighboring properties, and restricting racking structures so they are not larger than the primary building on the lot.

"So this application is precipitated by a request by Modine Manufacturing," said Marion, a planning staff presenter, explaining that the change would be a major PDD amendment and that special-use approvals would be required for specific sites.

Public comment focused not on outdoor storage itself but on traffic and routing. Joe Mercado, president of the Hidden Oaks Homeowners Association, said the subdivision has seen heavy construction and shortcutting through residential streets and asked the city and applicant to work on routing and signage to keep trucks and shift-related traffic out of neighborhood streets.

"Our bigger concern is the traffic that's gonna cause our subdivision," Mercado said, describing repeated incidents of speeding and collisions on 30 First Street and 30 Fourth Street and asking the city and Modine to consider signage or employee routing rules similar to nearby businesses.

Eric Ortega, an architect representing the developer, said the design team is preparing sight-line diagrams and will work with staff on screening and site layout. "We're working to put together some sight line diagrams to see what the storage would look like from the property line," Ortega said.

Commissioners and staff noted that the proposed ordinance would establish district-wide allowances and design standards; individual outdoor storage areas would later come back to the commission as special-use applications where routing, signage and site-specific screening could be addressed. Alderman Day said constituents had coordinated through the HOA and that staff and the applicant should continue that coordination.

The commission first voted to determine the proposed PDD amendment to be a major amendment, then voted to recommend approval of the ordinance as drafted with the recommended design standards. Both motions passed on voice votes.

The item will proceed to the Common Council under the city's public hearing and ordinance process; separate special-use reviews will be required for any specific outdoor storage installations.

Ending: Staff emphasized that the commission's recommendation sets district-wide standards but that site-specific mitigation for traffic routing and screening will be handled later in the special-use review process.