Laserfiche WebLink
To:Chris Bollis and Planning Commission Members <br />Adam Edwards, City Administrator <br />From:Laura Oakden, Community Development Director <br />Date:October 21, 2024 <br />Subject:#LA24-000054, Rob Page, 430 Old Crystal Bay Rd, Site Plan Review <br />Background <br />The Applicant made a site plan application for review of a new business development at 430 Old <br />Crystal Bay Road. This is the only vacant site location in the industrial development. The site is <br />directly north of HWY 12. At this time, the industrial development is not fully built out. There is <br />still outstanding work which requires the installation of Orono Industrial Blvd, including utilities <br />and a fire turn around. These improvements must be completed following the development <br />agreement before any future building permits can be released. The proposed garage condo <br />development will access from Orono Industrial Blvd on the north side of the parcel. There are <br />residential properties to the west of the site across Old Crystal Bay Road and an industrial <br />property directly abutting along the east property line. <br />The applicant has submitted a narrative along with the site plan application describing the <br />proposed garage condo development. The development will contain individual storage units of <br />800-1450 sq.ft. for cars, boats, and/or RVs and a common upstairs mezzanine area. The storage <br />units will be individually-owned and for individual use. Each unit is designed to have utility <br />connections for water and sewer and is customizable to include additional amenities such as <br />bathrooms, kitchens, and washers/dryers. The common spaces and general maintenance and <br />drainage items will be managed through regulations to be set by the applicant. The development <br />will not have a customer-facing/retail aspect outside the sale of individual units. <br />Staff Analysis <br />The applicant’s site plan requests approval of the garage condo development as “Inside storage or <br />warehousing,” which is listed as a permitted use for the I-Industrial District within which the <br />development would be situated. City Code Section 78-822. The proposed garage condo <br />development, however, is intended for use as private garage space for individual owners and a <br />shared common area that do not fit within the use of “Inside storage or warehousing”. The shared <br />common area is not intended to be used for storage or warehousing, or any commercial or <br />industrial activity. While the garage units would be used for storing vehicles, to find that it fits <br />within “Inside storage or warehousing” would convert the City Code’s designation of garages as <br />an accessory use, defined in City Code Section 78-1 to include “any portion of the principal <br />building, including a carport, which is used for storing passenger vehicles, and trailer,” into a <br />permitted use for this district, making the code’s distinction between the uses meaningless. <br />Therefore, the proposed garage condo development, which essentially proposed garages as a <br />principal use and a shared common area as an accessory use, does not fit within the permitted use <br />of “Inside storage or warehousing” for the industrial district. <br />Additionally, the proposal indicates that the individual garage units have significant build-out <br />capabilities, which would allow for the units to be used for residential purposes well beyond <br />“Inside storage and warehousing”. Customizations could include full kitchens, bathrooms, <br />Application Summary: The applicant is requesting Site Plan Review for an eighty-five (85) unit <br />Garage Condo development. <br />Staff Recommendation: Planning Department Staff recommends denial as applied. <br />145