Eustis planning panel transmits ordinance to require community meetings, tighten self-storage rules

The Local Planning Agency for the City of Eustis voted Feb. 20 to transmit Ordinance 25-01 to the City Commission proposing changes to the city’s land development regulations that would make community meetings mandatory for certain development types and narrow where self-storage facilities are allowed.

Mike Lane, Development Services director for the City of Eustis, told commissioners the package includes two main changes: tightening the community meeting requirement and revising the use table for specific commercial activities. “We have before you tonight, some possible changes to the land development regulations,” Lane said, adding that the committee-meeting provision would shift from optional to mandatory for five project categories.

Under the proposal, community meetings would be required for: residential subdivisions larger than 10 acres; mixed-use and multifamily developments with densities greater than 5 dwelling units per acre; commercial projects with buildings larger than 50,000 square feet; all planned unit developments (PUDs); and proposed changes to future land use districts larger than 4 acres. Lane said projects already in the permitting queue would be grandfathered.

The draft ordinance would also change where bars and taverns are allowed: the proposal would allow such uses across the city’s commercial districts only as conditional uses, meaning they would require a discretionary review rather than being permitted outright. On self-storage, Lane said the city is proposing to remove self-storage as a permitted use in the Central Business District, general commercial, mixed commercial-residential and mixed commercial-industrial categories and to allow it only as a conditional use in the general industrial district.

Lane provided background figures on storage supply and pending development: with a population of about 20,000, the city currently has roughly 801,500 square feet of storage facilities, he said, and three projects in the approval queue that would add about 103 buildings with an average size of roughly 8,000 square feet. He said those in the queue would be grandfathered under the existing rules.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the PUD threshold and whether the Central Business District would still allow storage; Lane confirmed the proposal removes most permitted allowances and leaves self-storage permissible only by conditional-use review in the general industrial district. After discussion, a commissioner moved to transmit Ordinance 25-01 to the City Commission for consideration; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll-call vote with all members present voting aye.

The transmission sends the ordinance to the City Commission, which must consider the measure before any change becomes law.