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Planning commission recommends four‑story storage facility; members debate saturation and environmental safeguards
Summary
The commission voted 5‑1 to recommend approval of Conditional Use Permit 9‑2024 for a four‑story mini‑warehouse on a 2.55‑acre site west of S. Washington Avenue; commissioners raised concerns about market saturation, rail‑adjacent industrial land value, and tree canopy and wetlands protections.
The Titusville Planning & Zoning Commission on March 4 recommended that City Council approve Conditional Use Permit 9‑2024 for "Titusville Storage," a proposed four‑story mini‑warehouse on a vacant 2.55‑acre parcel west of South Washington Avenue (US‑1).
Staff described the conceptual plan showing a four‑story storage building, parking, proposed dry retention, and preservation of a 5,123‑square‑foot wetland with narrow buffers. The property has 438 feet of frontage along US‑1 and was placed in the M1 (light industrial/services/warehousing) zoning district in the 1993 rezoning.
Why it matters: commissioners probed cross‑access to the adjacent Bricks brewery, market saturation of self‑storage in the Titusville area (staff cited roughly 70 facilities serving the area), and environmental and design safeguards. Staff explained that a conditional use permit allows site‑specific conditions—such as buffering, lighting limits, or landscape requirements—to mitigate nuisances, and that saturation alone is not a code standard for denial. Commissioners noted tree canopy and perimeter landscape requirements would be handled during site plan and tree mitigation review.
The public hearing included a representative for the applicant, who said the proposal conforms to staff findings. Commissioners discussed broader policy options, including whether the City Council should study moratoria or code amendments for self‑storage and car washes; staff advised that recent state legislation limits a municipality’s ability to adopt moratoria now but that the commission may recommend a council study for future action.
Commission action: Member Childs moved to recommend approval; the motion passed on a roll call of 5 yes, 1 no (Secretary Face voted no). Commissioners asked staff to ensure the southeast corner wetlands and associated buffer remain wooded to the extent code and engineering allow.
Next steps: the commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to City Council. If council approves, the applicant will proceed to site plan, tree mitigation and engineering review where final landscape, canopy, and wetland buffer requirements will be determined.
