Planning board recommends forwarding revised self‑storage rules to commission

The Cocoa Beach Planning Board voted to recommend that the City Commission consider a revision to the city’s Land Development Code (Section 2.62) to allow indoor self‑storage to seek approval as a special exception in the Town Center Redevelopment District and to add new development standards that would apply citywide to future self‑storage facilities.

City Development Services Director Dave Dickey told the board the draft change would make a special‑exception path available in Town Center but that staff was proposing the new development standards — setbacks, building face restrictions near residences, and restrictions on in‑unit power outlets — apply wherever new self‑storage is permitted across the city. “As proposed … the special exception would be an allowable request in the Town Center Redevelopment District,” Dickey said. “The other ask is we’re adding some new development requirements, and those will be applicable anywhere in the city.”

The recommendation before the board would not change the status of existing facilities. Dickey and the city attorney said existing self‑storage buildings would be grandfathered; new requirements would apply only to newly permitted projects or to expansions/major renovations. The draft language also includes operational restrictions: individual storage units would not be supplied with outlets (staff and board described that as intended to prevent on‑site charging, appliance use, or people living in units), a prohibition on using units for temporary retail/garage/estate sales, and requirements for loading doors that abut residentially zoned property.

Board members pressed staff on enforcement and specific language. A member asked whether humidity control or dehumidifiers would be allowed; staff said the draft prohibits outlets in individual units and noted climate‑controlled facilities operate under different metering/arrangements but the current draft does not give outlets to individual units. Another member suggested explicitly naming the redevelopment districts in the code text rather than relying on a referenced table; staff said the table reference was intentional to avoid duplication.

Two members of the public spoke. Property owner Dan Dvorak said he owns a vacant building on South Orlando Avenue and intends to convert it to indoor self‑storage, saying “our intent is everything is inside the building and nobody would even know what’s going on in there.” Chuck Barton, a Cocoa Beach resident, asked whether the Civic district would be included; staff clarified the Civic district as discussed would not be treated the same as Town Center for the special‑exception expansion in the staff recommendation.

After public comment, the board made a motion to recommend the revised Section 2.62 and the attached permitted‑uses table edits be forwarded to the City Commission. The motion passed and the board recommended the ordinance language move to the commission for its consideration.

The board’s action is a recommendation only; the City Commission would need to review, possibly amend, and adopt an ordinance to change the Land Development Code.

Because the board’s recommendation affects where and how new self‑storage buildings may be permitted in Cocoa Beach, it will affect property owners seeking to convert existing commercial/industrial buildings into indoor storage, applicants proposing new facilities, and neighborhood residents near potential new sites.