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Planning commissioners debate commercial self-storage rules and Walnut Street corridor standards
Summary
The commission discussed draft text amendments to allow commercial self-storage in more zones and whether to change minimum lot sizes and lot-coverage limits on Walnut Street. Commissioners debated landscaping, setbacks and lot-coverage percentages ahead of a March 26 public hearing.
At the 2025-02-20 Planning Commission meeting, staff presented draft zoning text amendments for commercial self-storage and asked commissioners whether to relax a current one-acre lot requirement for C-3 properties and set new lot-coverage or buffering standards.
Kimmy, planning staff, said the site that prompted the review is a roughly 19,000-square-foot lot on Walnut Street. She showed commissioners examples from nearby cities and noted that some neighboring municipalities do not impose an acre minimum for comparable uses.
“Shipping containers are not allowed,” Kimmy said when listing proposed prohibitions for commercial storage. She also described proposed requirements for a site plan, drive‑aisles and landscaping and noted that the city’s Comprehensive Plan identifies Walnut as a gateway corridor subject to future improvements.
Commissioners focused on lot coverage and buffering. Current Augusta regulations set a 40% maximum lot coverage for C-3; commissioners discussed raising that figure for practicality and debated whether to require additional landscaping in setbacks. Several commissioners said 40% is too restrictive for small lots; one suggested 50% while another proposed 75% as a workable figure depending on lot size and drainage.
Why it matters: changing the lot-size or lot-coverage rules would allow new storage facilities on smaller infill parcels but could change the corridor's appearance and stormwater behavior. Staff warned the city is planning Walnut Street improvements and recommended caution before reducing setbacks.
Staff said any change would apply citywide to C-3 parcels and would require formal notice and a public hearing; Kimmy said the item would appear on the March 26 docket for public comment. Commissioners asked staff to return with concrete draft language, an inventory of C-3 parcels in the city limits and proposed lot-coverage percentages so the commission could evaluate impacts across multiple sites.
Ending: Commissioners instructed staff to prepare specific draft amendments for the March 26 public hearing, including recommended lot-coverage percentages, buffering standards and options that limit certain types of storage (for example, RVs or covered boat storage) on parcels below a defined size.
