The Palm Coast Planning Board last week approved in three successive unanimous votes different regulatory steps advancing the development of three self-storage facilities–on Old Kings Road North, on Old Kings Road south, and on Matanzas Woods Parkway near U.S. 1.
The Old Kings North project had won approval from the Planning Board in 2019 and was reappearing in unique circumstances to renew a special exception. The two other projects are new.
In contrast with considerations of such items before local boards in recent months, the approvals, which point to a continuing bullish trend in self-storage businesses in the area, drew neither opposition nor any appearances from the public. As if to fill the void, the continuing surge in facilities prompted a few reflections from planning board members themselves.
“If I remember correctly this is the third or the fourth storage facility on Old Kings Road,” James Albano said. “At least the third within a two mile stretch.” And the eighth or ninth in the last two years, according to another board member.
“We have too much stuff,” another member said.
“We’re we’re not here to judge the market, but I understand your point,” the board’s chairman, Clinton Smith, said.
“As long as everybody else knows what we have going on,” Albano said.
A single unit can cost around $300 a month. The addition of more facilities could bring the price down, said a member who was paying that $300 a month “storing probably $50 bucks’ worth of stuff” for a 10-by-20 unit.
None of the items will go before the City Council.
The Kings Crossing item was a first for the city. The Planning Board had approved a special exception for Kings Crossing with a series of conditions “because where it’s located was in a very sensitive area when it comes to floodplains and wetlands,” Ray Tyner, the city’s deputy development director, said. “There was some really intensive technical details that needed to be worked out.”
Because of that it took the applicant a long time to return to the city with a site plan, which the Planning Board approved last February. But by then, since construction had not started, and even though all conditions were met, the three-year special exception had expired. The applicant, Victor Silva, wanted it renewed for another three years. (Silva, of Flagler Beach, operates under a corporation registered as Flagler Storage Group of Jacksonville.)
“The last two years with Covid and all we’ve been through, I’m just happy to be able to get here with you guys with everything intact and together and not completely tattered to pieces,” Dan Wilcox, the engineer of record on the project, said. The board approved the extension in a 7-0 vote.
The two-story “mini-warehouse” facility, including some office space, will be on 36 acres between Old Kings Road and I-95, some 1.5 miles north of Palm Coast Parkway, its northeast area bordering on the entire length of Fanshaw Lane, with Farmsworth Drive to the north and Frontier Drive to the south. With its close proximity to quite a few houses in the F Section, it was surprising that no member of the public spoke: that had not been the case with previous such self-storage applications going before either the Planning Board or the City Council.
As required by law, the city on July 21 issued a letter ostensibly to neighboring residents to inform them of the item and of residents’ rights to address the Planning Board. But curiously, not a single letter went to actual, immediate neighbors of the property: there was not a single letter to residents on Fanshaw Lane, Fann lane or Fanbury Lane, none to Farver or Farnum Lane, or any other F-Section addresses. The city had certified proof of having sent 51 letters, but many of them went to property owners or residents on Boulder Rock Drive and Botany lane on the other side of I-95. The radius may have been in keeping with the letter of the law, but residents on the other side of an Interstate are not likely to care or see what will go up across the way, and it leaves unexplained why residents along the boundaries of the proposed self-storage facility itself were not alerted.
Another quirk that may not be fair to existing residents: Many of the letters went to the listed property owners rather than the actual residents of properties, thus denying actual residents, who may be renters, the right to voice an opinion. Many of the letters went to New Jersey, Colorado, Texas, California, at least four went to new York, some went to Coral Gables, Melbourne, Jacksonville and Bunnell. Had the city sent letters both to property owners and to listed addresses along the perimeter, the response might have been different.
Kings Crossing may be seeking to have RVs and boat storage. But that provision is not covered by the site a plan approved earlier this year. The business would have to submit yet another site plan for approval if it is to have boats and RVs stored there, and even then, those would have to be stored outside, only on pavement behind buildings or wooded areas to hide them from motorists on Old Kings road. Wilcox said that was not in the plans for now.
The second item the Planning Board approved was a technical site plan for a 90,000 square foot, 560-unit self-storage facility, including boats and recreational vehicles, on nearly 3 acres on Matanzas Woods Parkway, some 410 feet west of U.S. 1. The site is vacant but has been cleared, with 78 percent of the acreage to be paved over.
Its closest neighbor for now is the new Amoco station, with which it’ll share an access road, with the closest residential street–Londonderry Drive–a good distance to the east. That application did not require a special exception since the zoning allows or high-intensity commercial and light industrial uses. The facility will have 25-foot buffers along Matanzas Woods Parkway. The property is registered to Palm Coast REH LLC of Rockledge, Fla. The proposal drew no public input. The board approved the site plan unanimously.
Finally was site plan application by Broward-Palm Coast Storage, a two-story, 90,000 square-foot, 550-unit self-storage facility on 11 acres at 2240 Old Kings Road–between Old Kings Road and I-95, parallel with the P-Section’s Pretoria Lane area on the other side of the interstate. That facility will not have outdoor RVs or boats. There’ll be one access road to Old Kings Road, across a 35-foot right-of-way reserved for future expansion of the road. The southern portion of the site will be left in its natural state, as will a portion of the north end of the site, with buffers exceeding the city’s requirements: the development’s impervious area–its pavement and concrete areas–will account for only 18 percent of the site.
The City Council in January approved a self-storage facility near Hidden Lakes. A week later the Planning Board approved another one near the Toscana subdivision, nearby. 9It was a few weeks after that that King’s Crossing’s site plan on Old Kings Road North was approved.)
That site too–surrounded by vacant land with moderate to high intensity commercial zoning on three sides and I-95 to the west–is zoned for high intensity commercial developments, so no special exceptions are necessary. The land is registered to PC2 Storage LLC of Atlanta and Tallahassee.
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Denali says
Back in the early 70’s I was the senior project manager for a large construction firm in northern Illinois. To make a long story short, we were approached by what I considered to be a con man to build 6 buildings of 5,000 sf each. Each building was to be divided into 100, 10′ x 20′ spaces with a garage door on one end. He called them U-Store-It Warehouses, the fore-runners of these self-storage facilities. These were not really our cup of tea as we specialized in large projects like hospitals, schools and high rises; Abbott Labs Lake County campuses were our bread and butter. But money talked.
We worked up the pricing and signed a contract. I was laughing to my self throughout the construction thinking this guy was going to lose his shirt because no one in their right mind would rent a storage space because they had too much ‘stuff’. We finished the project and moved on. Six months later this guy comes back to my office wanting to build another five of these projects. At first I thought he wanted five more buildings, no, he wanted 30 more buildings at five different project sites in the Chicago suburbs. Guess who was laughing then. I left that company a few years later and this guy had become an annuity for us; we built out at least three sites a year in differing configurations for him. Who would have thought that people would pay to store their junk.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Put up 10 more….its better than people!!!!!!!
Shark says
Wow – ten more low paying jobs coming to PC. Why doesn’t the town build their own storage facility. Thee places are just ripping off the public.
Concerned Citizen says
This smells of kick backs.
Why do we need so many storage units? Why is the zoning getting approved so quickly? Follow the money. I bet some of it’s padding pockets.
anti storage says
These companies realize the over zealous code enforcement we have here in Palm coast. This is supposed to be Florida you know get out and enjoy the nature in your boat or RV but god forbid if you have a canoe on your property, they will find it sometimes using overhead flights to spot violations. it now costs over $150/month to store a jet ski on a trailer at any of these units. Just to park it outside on their lot in the sun. Covered units (if you can find one) are much more. a 10×20′ indoor unit (smallest unit that will accept a trailer) is $275 a month. These facilities are cash cows, few hundred units and parking spaces at those rates with one or two low pay employees to run it, very high income to to overhead once the concrete is poured and the steel buildings are raised. A Large % of homes in P.C. only have a 1 car garage so if you own a fishing skiff, basically your garage is full and anything else you care to own will cost you a couple grand or more a year to store.
Carvalho says
I totally agree. The only problem is that if you are the little guy you get punished but the fat cats can do whatever they want. I’ve seen vacant lots with multiple trailers parked and when I contacted code they did nothing.
Laurel says
Anti: You’ve hit the nail on the head! We lived in Lake Worth and attended a Planning and Zoning meeting that was intended to prevent people from storing boats or rec vehicles in their yards. Turned out some of the Board members owned storage buildings. Shamelessly, trying to make it more difficult for regular families to enjoy their toys. A real estate agent got up and spoke in favor of “real estate values.” I got up and stated that “apparently, real estate values were more important for some than family values.” Money always rules. But this time, the rule was not passed!
Do a little digging and see what dirt comes up.
Jimbo99 says
More storage units, it’s not that people have too much stuff, more like evicted and anyone’s belongings go into storage. The one’s that have too much stuff clutter their garages with all their clutter. Biden’s unaffordable housing strikes again.
TrumpIsATraitor says
Yes! Please build more storage units as there is a long waiting list at every single storage facility in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach. No Jimb099 it’s not evicted folks. It’s people that are paying to store belongings so they can park their cars, cycles, and boats in their garages. People that are happy and joyful local residents who know that Jimb099’s orange skinned master from mara lago is a liar, a cheat, and a con man.
Denali says
Lordy, you could twist a cup of coffee around to be Biden’s fault. What on this green earth does Biden have to do with storage units? The president has no control over housing prices.
A.j says
Unaffordable housing was here long before our great President. Dud Trump do anything about housing. Don’t remember. One thing I will say about Trump he know how to influence people the wrong way. I know the people make the final decision as they should but many are dead following him. Many are in jail and some going to or in prison. Joe Biden isn’t too bad you would say. Building storage units is a great business idea. The city is growing we know most of those people will have too much stuff. Good job storage builders, great job Biden, bad work history Trump. Would like to see him in jail, doubt that will ever happen, it is good to imagine him being locked up.
TrumpIsATraitor says
It’s not clutter when it’s maga hats and flags Jimb0. You’re fired. Stop believing all those maga lies from the orange man from mara lago.
John Stove says
Get some new material….
Raining?….damn Biden
Flat tire?…frickin Brandon
Property Tax Increase?….damn libtards
Steal top secret documents?……eh…ummmm
Tony L. says
“Russia, if you’re listening” .
“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,”*
If someone tells you who they are .. believe them
* I think there are a lot of decent, moral, republicans who would disagree and have fallen out of love with the grifter.
Pamela says
Maybe the TV show ” Storage Wars ” will be coming to Palm Coast soon. I love that show !
Doug says
We need a border wall at the Florida line to keep the Yankees out. Then Palm Coast can scrap the additional storage facilities.
Jerome says
If it wasn’t for the yankees you would be earning $2.00 per hour.
Doug says
If that were true, Jerome, I’d rather have the $2.00/hour.
Mark says
One way to alleviate more storage places is to let those that have trailers (campers, boats/PWC, enclosed) less than 20 feet long park in citizens driveways if they have the room. Or even pads (gravel, cement) along side ones residence for longer trailers. No open construction, landscape, etc trailers.
Concerned Citizen says
Why not allow it all?
Construction and landscape trailers are a persons lively hood. And if you can make a nice area alongside of YOUR own property then tarp it I see nothing wrong with that.
Your plan harkens back to the debate of marked vehicles in driveway. It needs to be all or none. No exceptions.
The argument of it lessens property values was tossed out by the Property Appraiser. So what this boils down to is what people like and don’t like. Then sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong and telling on people.
Wallingford says
I can see the advertisements that Realtors will be putting into the various mediums in the future:
Come to Palm Coast Self-Storage Capital of the World
If proper protocol was not followed all of the approval votes should be negated ab initio and projects opened to public comment. We purchased in PC because of the way of life it offered not to be close to self-storage faciities
Flatsflyer says
Stop the Zoning Variances and allow storage facilities in Industrial Areas only. You can’t build a Titty Bar but you can build storage facilities makes lots of sense, Sarcasim off.
And Justice for All says
Instead of reducing all the crap continue to buy more , yes that’s the ticket. If you don’t use it in a couple of years time , you don’t need it. It’s making China more powerful and destroying our planet.