Planning commission approves 60,000‑sq‑ft Elmhurst Drive storage facility after traffic concerns

The Metropolitan Area Planning Commission on Sept. 9 approved a site plan for a 60,000‑square‑foot self‑storage building on Elmhurst Drive, a developer representative said.

Bear Davidson, with Davidson Engineering, told commissioners the project has been before the commission previously and that the building footprint was reduced from “closer to or over 100,000 square feet” to 60,000 square feet. Davidson said the latest submittal removes exterior overhead doors so all units are interior‑loaded and climate controlled, adds landscaping on the northern and other perimeters and adds a sidewalk on all four sides of the structure.

The project was brought to the commission even though, as city staff noted, it now falls below the 75,000‑square‑foot threshold that would otherwise trigger a large‑scale development review. City staff said the project appears before the commission because it previously required conditional‑use approval under the table of uses.

The chief area of discussion among commissioners and members of the public was vehicular access and safety where Elmhurst Drive meets Parker Road. Commissioner Ford asked why the city could not require traffic to use the new internal street and avoid left turns across multiple lanes on Parker Road, saying, “I don’t understand why we can’t have our cake and eat it too and avoid lefts, turns across all those lanes of traffic.”

Davidson and staff responded that the site lies inside an approved commercial subdivision and that the subdivision’s originally approved traffic analysis assumed uses that could generate higher traffic than the storage operation, which the applicant described as a low‑traffic producer. Staff also said Elmhurst Drive has not yet been formally accepted as a public right‑of‑way because final improvements remain outstanding; once the builder completes them, the city will accept the street.

City staff said they will bring the safety concern to the city traffic control committee at its upcoming meeting to consider options such as “no left turn” signage. A staff comment in the record noted the project does not meet the 75,000‑square‑foot threshold for large‑scale development review.

A motion to approve the site plan passed; the commission recorded approval after members pressed the “aye” button during the vote. The motion and second as recorded in the meeting packet and minutes led to formal approval by the commission.

The developer and staff said they have attempted to address prior commission comments from earlier reviews; the applicant cited removal of exterior doors, perimeter landscaping and the added sidewalks as changes submitted in response to those comments. The file shows the applicant submitted the revised plans to address the commission’s earlier concerns.

Next steps identified during the meeting include staff referral of the left‑turn/safety suggestion to the traffic control committee and completion of street improvements before the city accepts Elmhurst Drive as a public right‑of‑way.