Ridgeland aldermen pass storage ordinance

Ridgeland aldermen pass storage ordinance

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Storage facilities will have a harder time getting approval in Ridgeland following a zoning ordinance amendment approved Tuesday evening by city officials.

Community Development Director Alan Hart presented a zoning ordinance amendment to Mayor Gene McGee and aldermen at their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

The amendment concerned existing and future climate-controlled and self-storage facilities at the public hearing.

Hart’s office had been charged with studying the current status of storage facilities in Ridgeland and to come up with a corresponding ordinance amendment if necessary in February of this year. 

Hart said that he and City Planner Jordan Lohman had looked at similar regulations as close as the city of Brandon and as far away as communities in Florida and California. 

Restrictions added included the distance between storage facilities and added clear guidelines as to what items they could handle.

Storage facilities can be built no more than 2,000 linear feet from each other, per the new amendment.

It prohibits the use of storage spaces for anything but storage.

For example, renters cannot use the space as a residence or to operate a business. 

Combustible, explosive, toxic and illegal materials are also prohibited. 

The ordinance also requires that facilities prioritize storage unit availability to Ridgeland citizens and business owners.

Finally, the ordinance requires that climate-controlled storage facilities be designed in a manner that is “sensitive to the surrounding context and intended character of the district” as well as requirements that were the facility to cease to operate, the building could be easily converted to other uses including retail, business and light industrial uses.

The amendment passed unanimously, 6-0, with Ward 2 Alderman Chuck Gautier recusing himself because he believes he had a conflicting interest in the matter. 

No one else spoke during the hearing though Brookwood Development, which has a proposed storage facility on the books asked that a letter be entered into the record noting their position on the matter.

Brookwood Development was going to request an architectural review, site plans and a conditional use permit for a 98,200 square foot, four-floor indoor storage facility at the Feb. 23 meeting where Hart was tasked with drafting the ordinance and conducting a study.

At that meeting, the item was tabled and the board unanimously voted to impose a storage facility moratorium that will be reconsidered at the Aug. 3, regularly scheduled meeting.

At the May 4 meeting Ward 3 Alderman Kevin Holder motioned that the item be brought of the table and the request denied. The motion was unanimously approved, 7-0. Gautier was allowed to participate in the vote because he said he had no conflict with that particular project.

Architectural Review Board records say the project was slated for a space at U.S. 51 and the I-55 Frontage Road.

Storage facilities have been the subject of controversy in recent years. 

In April 2018, aldermen passed an ordinance removing climate-controlled storage facilities from the allowed conditional uses for areas zoned C-3 and added the conditional use to C-4. That measure passed 4-3 with Aldermen Ken Heard, Brian Ramsey and Bill Lee voting against it.

The ordinance followed a 90-day moratorium on storage facility construction in the city that was approved in a 6-1 vote with Heard casting the lone "nay” vote.

The moratorium and ordinance were introduced after developers wanted to build a StorageMax on property on the Highland Colony Parkway that Aldermen considered to be a gateway to the city.

The subject property was located at the corner of Highland Colony Parkway and New Pointe Drive. Smith called the area “precious land” during the discussion of the project.

The latest storage facility approved was in February 2020 on Brame Road alongside I-55 and Highland Colony Parkway.






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