Council rejects allowing self‑storage in office‑park zoning; later approves a sign exception for a separate storage site

Staff proposed a text amendment to allow self‑storage facilities as a conditional use within the city’s Office Park (OPP) district, subject to minimum separation (2,500 ft suggested), higher architectural standards and a five‑story limit in OPP. Planning staff said the change would provide service to nearby new residential development but cautioned against proliferation without design standards.

Council and Planning & Zoning board members debated whether permitting storage in OPP would undercut efforts to attract Class A office tenants. Concerns included visual massing along 6th Street and Midtown, existing available storage capacity in the broader market, and the risk that office park character would shift to warehouse‑type uses. "What we are looking at here is someone who wants to take a project...and you're going to put that particular element in the office park," one council critic said. Ultimately the motion to adopt the legislative code change did not carry. Later in the meeting the council considered a specific sign‑size exception for a different storage site in the industrial area; after applicant testimony and architectural commitments staff recommended— and the council approved— a sign exception conditioned on flush‑mounted, architecturally integrated signs rather than raceway signage.