PNZ denies conditional use permit for U-Haul rentals at 109 Industrial Drive

The Forney Planning and Zoning Commission voted to deny a conditional use permit that would have allowed truck rental, auto leasing and outside storage at 109 Industrial Drive in the Seeley Business Park. Staff told the commission the 0.47-acre property contains a roughly 5,000-square-foot warehouse and does not meet the zoning parking requirement for the proposed commercial use.

"Staff does recommend denial the request just based on the parking," Beatty, the city staff presenter, said during the public hearing. Under the zoning code cited by staff, a 5,000-square-foot commercial use would require 20 parking spaces (one per 250 square feet); the site application identified about 10 parking spaces.

Applicant Marcellus Austin, who identified himself at the hearing, said the warehouse currently supports nonprofit activities including an after-school program and a food pantry and that U-Haul rentals would provide income to support those programs. "This would actually help us to continue doing the work that we do," Austin said, adding the proposal would store seven pieces of equipment and that he would keep vehicles on paved surfaces to avoid blocking traffic.

Commissioners pressed the applicant on vehicle sizes, turn radii and prior code-enforcement contacts. Staff and the applicant said an inspector had visited and that one truck had briefly been on grass, but staff characterized the principal compliance issue as the requested use itself and the shortfall in required parking. After questions concluded, a commissioner moved to deny the permit; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The denial keeps the current warehouse-storage use intact and prevents the addition of truck rental and outside storage at that address unless the applicant revises the proposal to meet zoning standards or pursues a separate variance process. The meeting record does not contain a full roll-call of the vote.