Council hears proposal for climate-controlled storage on Vanzant Road and related parking variance

Planning staff presented a special land use permit request for a climate-controlled, roughly three-story self-storage facility on Vanzant Road, together with a variance to reduce required parking from 40 spaces to 30.

Planner Dana Gray described the site as backing up to I-20 and said staff recommended an exemption plat because the building will occupy part of a larger parcel and needs to be its own lot. Gray said the project is climate controlled with loading in the rear and customer parking in front. Council members asked about facade articulation and materials to break down the building's massing given its windowless elevations; Gray said staff would check Unified Development Code facade requirements during development plan review. Applicant Evan Kilgore of Southeast Civil Group told council the project would comply with city codes and that parking demand for storage facilities rarely requires full theoretical parking counts because customers do not move 40 units simultaneously.

Council opened the public hearing and deferred final action to the April 6 meeting to allow staff review of elevations and any proposed conditions.