Self-storage developer Mark Schaeffer has requested a zoning change in Harbeson, Del., for a 25-building self-storage project by Central Storage at Harbeson LLC. The project is a scaled-down version of a 2009 proposal for which Schaeffer received conditional-use approval but could not complete financing.

Schaeffers lender told him it would not loan him the money for a conditional-use project and to seek a zoning change, he said. Zoning would have to change from agricultural-residential to commercial-residential.

The project would include 25 buildings comprising 60,000 square feet on 8 acres. The self-storage facility would also have an office and a residence for a live-in manager. It would be constructed over a series of phases.

The reality is the project can't be financed as a conditional use, Schaeffers attorney Gene Bayard said.

Some residents expressed concern about increased traffic, fencing and buffers. Schaeffer said he would include fencing and landscaping as buffers. He was not required to submit a traffic-impact study because traffic estimations were below the states threshold of 200 vehicle trips per day or 50 in one hour.

Schaeffer said demand for storage was increasing in the area and that the project would enhance property values. He said he has been in the self-storage industry for 25 years and operates three other facilities in Delaware.

A public hearing on the application was scheduled for Feb. 5.

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