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Council approves conditional use permit for Acoustical Sheet Metal outdoor storage yard in Innovation Park, 10–1
Summary
Council approved a conditional use permit for a bulk/outdoor storage yard accessory to Acoustical Sheet Metal’s operations in Innovation Park after extended public comment about stormwater, neighborhood impacts and the park’s design guidelines. The applicant committed to additional landscaping, an opaque fence and a shared-use path connection.
Council approved a conditional use permit to allow an outdoor bulk storage yard accessory to Acoustical Sheet Metal’s manufacturing operations in Innovation Park after applicants described screening and landscaping measures and residents raised concerns about truck traffic and stormwater.
Greg Schmidt, representing the applicant, said the storage yard would be accessory to on-site manufacturing of acoustical generator enclosures and that the applicant had revised plans in response to planning-commission feedback. Schmidt described design changes that include 200 additional trees, up to 800 shrubs, maintenance of more than 6 acres of green space on the 21-acre parcel, and an eight-foot opaque privacy fence along public-facing views. He said the applicant is amenable to planning-commission conditions and to building a shared-use path requested by the commission to connect Princess Anne Road to the park’s trail network.
Michael Ireland, Acoustical Sheet Metal’s executive vice president, said the company has operated in the city for 25 years, employs hundreds of local residents and expects further growth; the firm said the yard is necessary for a just-in-time manufacturing workflow to stage completed enclosures for shipment.
Several residents and stakeholders voiced concerns at the hearing about the compatibility of what they described as heavy, oversized truck movements with a corridor intended for lower-density, research/innovation campus uses. Speakers raised specific concerns about stormwater capacity, the proposed building scale and the visibility of large storage areas along Princess Anne Road and urged locating heavy storage in a different industrial area. Proponents stressed job creation and long-term local investment.
Council debated the fit with Innovation Park design guidelines, stormwater capacity and transportation impacts. A motion to deny the conditional use application failed for lack of a second and a motion to approve (as amended and subject to planning commission conditions) passed with a final tally recorded as 10–1.
Approved conditions require implementation of the landscape, fencing and path-screening commitments discussed during the presentation and further coordination with city staff on stormwater and construction sequencing.
