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Council approves screened outdoor-storage allowance at Midlothian Business Park after debate over enforcement
Summary
After extended debate over screening and phased use, the Midlothian City Council approved an amendment to Planned Development (PD) 609 allowing screened outdoor storage at specified trailer-stall areas, with the exhibit and site limits narrowed to Lot 2B; the measure passed 5-1.
Midlothian City Council on Tuesday approved an amendment to Planned Development (PD) 609 to allow screened outdoor storage in specified trailer-stall areas of Midlothian Business Park, after council members pressed the applicant on how screening would be built and enforced.
The council’s action, passed 5-1, substitutes a site exhibit showing outdoor-storage only on Lot 2B, Block B, and requires 8-foot tubular-steel fencing and evergreen shrubs where outdoor storage is used. The ordinance was amended to substitute a new exhibit (labeled A2) and to limit the allowance to the area depicted in that exhibit.
Council members questioned whether allowing storage now — before fencing and screening are installed across the full length of the building — would create an enforcement and aesthetic problem later. “I really don’t like approving something that has an ‘if-then’ equation in it,” Councilman Ross Weaver said during the discussion, urging that screening be installed before storage begins so future users could not place material in view without required screening.
The applicant and the tenant, Wind Supply, said their immediate need is for a small, corner area behind their leased building. James Fulton, president of Wind Supply Midlothian, described the requested use: “We do store HVAC materials, supplies, equipment. Contractors will drive to us to pick up things…we would like to have that outside storage directly behind our building,” he said, describing palletized materials and rooftop equipment that cannot fit indoors.
City staff and the developer acknowledged the council’s enforcement concerns and proposed an amendment: allow outdoor storage only in the stalls identified for Wind Supply on the replaced exhibit and require the screening noted in the PD before any outside materials are placed there. Planning staff reported the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval, 7-0, at its April 15 meeting and that no mailed responses from nearby property owners were received on the amendment.
The final ordinance (as amended) replaces the prior exhibit and narrows the permitted outdoor-storage area to Lot 2B, Block B, as shown on the newly substituted site plan. The ordinance also updates site-plan language in Section 1.A.10 and related subsections to reflect the substitute exhibit and screening details. Council recorded the vote as 5 in favor, 1 opposed.
Votes at a glance: the motion to approve the PD amendment as amended passed 5-1. The council directed staff to ensure the exhibit and PD language require screening and to make the administrative process clear for any future permit triggers.
Why it matters: The decision changes where and how industrial outside storage may appear along Challenger Drive and Highway 67 frontage, and council members framed the item as a precedent for how the city will require screening and site-plan documentation when outdoor storage is proposed.
Council action and next steps: The ordinance will be published as amended. Staff said any future tenant seeking outdoor storage in the approved area must show the storage location on a site plan and obtain permitting; the screening requirements are now tied to the mapped area in the approved exhibit.
