Council hears update on Avera/Spencer Highway industrial SCUP; members raise truck routing and outdoor storage concerns

Planning staff reviewed the Avera special conditional use permit (SCUP) and related plats for Spencer Highway Industrial Subdivision, describing three reserves with differing underlying zoning, building size limits (no building larger than 85,000 sq ft in Reserves 1 and 2), and a requirement that truck bays face the rear and be screened from public right‑of‑way.

Staff said the SCUP limits truck activity and does not permit outdoor shipping containers or hazardous material storage; a condition limits truck trips to a maximum of 10 trucks per building site. Council members raised concerns that multiple 25,000 sq ft buildings could cumulatively generate significant truck traffic, that truck egress could use non‑truck routes, and that outdoor chassis or container parking should be prohibited. Ms. Williams emphasized: "We need to make absolutely, doubly sure we don't get ourselves hemmed up in a corner here with outdoor chassis parking," and staff confirmed outdoor storage must be screened and that logistics uses would be limited where not adjacent to a high‑frequency truck route.

Staff also described a large detention area planned on the Bay Area Boulevard frontage that is intended to serve the development and potentially additional properties; detailed site plans for tenant buildings remain under staff review and will return to planning and zoning as required.