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Regional Planner: Shipping Containers Treated as Structures; Board Requires Wet-Floodproofing Measures
Summary
At a public hearing April 15, 2026, a regional planner told the Town of Campbell Planning Board the proposed shipping containers meet the zoning definition of structures and should follow wet floodproofing rules; the board attached specific access-opening and installation conditions to the approval.
During the public hearing on FP 3-2026 and SP 4-2026, Janet Thigpen of Southern Tier Regional advised the Planning Board that the proposed shipping containers on the subject parcel qualify as fully enclosed structures for floodplain purposes and should be addressed under the Town's floodplain rules. In the record, Thigpen said the work would likely be treated as "wet flood proofing" under Section 6.11 because its cost is below the 10% assessed-value threshold cited in the zoning law.
Based on that assessment, the board recorded technical conditions intended to reduce hydraulic pressure and flood damage: the containers must be adequately anchored; each container must have a combined 533 square inches of access openings (approximately 266 square inches on both the north and south sides); units should be set on 6x6 pressure-treated beams (or an approved equivalent); and any future construction between the units must use flood-resistant materials. The measures were included as conditions of approval when the board voted to approve FP 3-2026 / SP 4-2026 by a 5–0 vote.
The transcript notes the containers will sit on a 50 ft by 50 ft asphalt pad and be oriented west–east with doors facing Meads Creek Road, information staff used to calculate hydraulic considerations. The board’s action makes those technical conditions prerequisites for final sign-off rather than optional recommendations.
