Somerville board carries hearing on proposed five‑story Route 206 self‑storage after residents press flood, visual and traffic concerns

The Somerville Board of Adjustment on Wednesday carried an application for a five‑story self‑storage facility at 79 Route 206 to July 1, 2026, after several hours of expert testimony and neighborhood questions about flood risk, stormwater, lighting and neighborhood impacts.

Attorney Jason Tuvel, representing the applicant Nan Realy Holdings LLC, described the proposal as a 72‑foot, five‑story, climate‑controlled self‑storage facility with a roughly 5,040 sq ft ground floor and about 85,700–86,000 sq ft of total floor area. Tuvel said the property is a long‑underused former diner lot on the Somerville–Raritan border in the B6 highway commercial zone and that the site's irregular shape and adjacent wetlands require variance relief.

“Our project is a five‑story, 72‑foot self‑storage facility,” Tuvel told the board, adding the ground‑floor office would be open about 8 a.m.–6 p.m. and the facility generally open to customers from about 6 a.m.–10 p.m.

Civil engineer Paul Mutch of Stonefield Engineering and Design gave the technical presentation, describing a largely undevelopable parcel surrounded by wetlands and new D flood‑hazard elevations that have pushed the whole site into the regulated flood area. Mutch said the team designed the building to stay mostly within the existing paved footprint and to reduce overall impervious coverage. He testified the site's stormwater design will be upgraded to retain and detain runoff and that the ground floor will be ‘‘dry floodproofed’’ with removable barriers for roll‑up doors and flood‑vents as required by D permits.

“From a stormwater and flood perspective, this is an improvement overall,” Mutch said, noting the replacement of sheet flow to the woods with a managed detention and improved on‑site treatment.

Traffic engineer Matthew Seckler (Stonefield) told the board self‑storage is among the lowest trip‑generating uses in the Institute of Transportation Engineers data and that recent on‑site counts often show fewer peak trips than the published tables. He said the team obtained a DOT letter of no interest for the proposed access geometry and that the design includes 14 parking spaces and a loading area under the building. Seckler also proposed a gate to close access after hours to address neighborhood security concerns, and said the planned clearances (13–14 ft) will accommodate standard U‑Haul trucks.

Architect Paul Schwarz presented elevations and materials (split‑face block at the base, vertical metal panels and fiber‑cement accents) and said the design team will refine rear facades and screening to reduce visual impacts for houses on Washington Place. Schwarz said the current plans show a placeholder unit count of roughly 445 units; final unit sizes and counts will be set later to match market demand.

Residents voiced multiple concerns. Neighbors recounted historic flooding at the site and asked what could be stored at the ground level if floodproofing fails; one resident said photographs from past storms showed extensive inundation. Several speakers said the five‑story scale would be visually imposing from Washington Place, urged additional buffering and questioned whether notice was adequate (one resident said they received notice a week before the meeting).

“We've seen the floods,” resident Mara Samsky said, asking how a tall building would be visible from neighborhood yards. Another resident, Joe Palomar, said the public had limited time to review materials and urged patience and clear, revised drawings.

Tuvel and the project team repeatedly told the board they would revise plans to address the concerns. Among the changes the applicant agreed to study and return with were: relocating the dumpster under the building, increasing buffering and landscape screening along the rear property line, adding gates and an on‑site turnaround (hammerhead) to avoid backing onto Route 206 when the gate is closed, making street‑facing fenestration translucent so the public cannot see into storage areas at night, and responding in detail to the borough engineer's stormwater and lighting comments. The team also agreed to supply refined elevations showing the building's appearance from Washington Place and to consult further with the fire official on emergency access and equipment locations.

After public comment and board discussion, the board carried the application to July 1, 2026 at 7 p.m. in the same room so the applicant can submit revised plans and engineering responses. The meeting also approved two unrelated resolutions earlier in the evening.

What comes next

The applicant must return with the revised site and architectural plans, a stormwater response addressing borough engineer comments, details on gates and the turnaround, confirmation of the sanitary connection approach, and refined elevation drawings that show proposed materials and the view from Washington Place. The board will take those materials up on July 1.

If approved, the project will still need applicable D flood‑hazard and wetlands permits and any required approvals from the municipal utilities authority for sanitary connections.