Commission recommends zoning/text amendment to allow larger, interior-access self storage with conditions

The Lancaster City Planning Commission voted to recommend to City Council a zoning map and text amendment to allow larger, multi-story, primarily interior-access self-storage facilities in portions of the cityindustrial/commercial (Centimeters) zoning district, with new conditions intended to limit where the use can be implemented.

The amendment was brought by a development team for a planned three-story, roughly 120,000-square-foot, climate-controlled self-storage facility on a parcel with constrained street access at Dillardville Road (unit B of a planned community). The applicant and design/build partner presented prototype facades and said modern demand favors taller, interior-access buildings rather than single-story, drive-up units.

City staff and planning commissioners said existing zoning did not anticipate this building type (the code previously capped storage buildings at 20,000 square feet) and that an amendment was reasonable only if accompanied by site and design safeguards. Staff and the applicant collaborated on draft standards that require three-story climate-controlled buildings, interior access for the majority of units, separation/screening of garage doors from public streets and minimum parcel sizes for the new form.

Commissioners expressed concern about opening the door to storage across the city and asked for tighter limits. After initial debate and a failed motion to forward the amendment as drafted, the commission approved a motion to recommend the amendment to Council with two clarifications the commission requested: (1) reduce the eligible parcel size band to 3 to 5 acres (down from a staff-proposed 3 to 7 acres) so fewer parcels would qualify; and (2) add language limiting eligibility where the parcel already has direct prime frontage/access to a main public street (i.e., to favor parcels with constrained or limited direct frontage and avoid loss of active frontage in commercial corridors).

City staff told the commission they had reviewed parcel data and estimated the revised thresholds would reduce the number of potentially eligible parcels to a relatively small set (staff had counted roughly two dozen parcels under earlier thresholds, with only a handful of vacant properties). The commissionrecommendation is advisory; City Council will have the final vote on the ordinance and any accompanying map change.

Applicant representatives and a storage-operator witness described strong city demand for storage within a short walk/drive time and said modern interior-access facilities can be designed with strong architectural treatments and security measures. Opponents at the meeting urged caution, arguing self-storage can depress street-level activity and property values if allowed in pedestrian-oriented commercial areas.

Next steps: the amendment with the commissionrequested edits will go to City Council for public hearing and final action; staff said they would update parcel impact analysis and circulate the revised text to the commission prior to the Council hearing.