InSite Property Group Lawsuit Alleges City of Elmsford, NY, Violated Self-Storage Development Ban

InSite Property Group, which operates the SecureSpace Self Storage brand, is suing the city of Elmsford, New York, for allegedly violating the local moratorium on self-storage development when village trustees approved a competitor’s site plan on July 10. InSite filed a petition on Aug. 10 with the Supreme Court of Westchester County, New York, arguing that the building authorization should be annulled, according to the source.

Elmsford trustees enacted a temporary ban on self-storage projects on June 5 to give officials time to consider the application of zoning and other regulations on the business use. It doesn’t currently have any formal regulations on self-storage, the source reported.

Though applicant Elmsford Real Estate Holdings (EREH) submitted its site plan in December, before the moratorium was adopted, InSite contended in its filing that the measure didn’t exempt pending approvals. InSite also claimed that EREH didn’t ask for relief, which is allowed under the ban, according to the source.

EREH proposed to build a five-story, 118,782-square-foot self-storage facility on 1 acre at 15-19 W. Main St. That property is almost directly across the street from an existing Safeguard Self Storage location and about a block away from a brand new SecureSpace site, which opened on May 23 at 33 W. Main St., the source reported.

InSite is represented by New York attorneys Kayle McGrath and Adam Stolorow. Neither the company nor village officials have commented publicly about the lawsuit.

Source: Westfair Business Journal, Self-storage Competition Heats Up in Elmsford