Update 4/6/15 – Developer Brian Schiedemeyer has reduced the square footage of his proposed self-storage project from 101,200 to 98,412 square feet. The facility would also include a 1,000-square-foot sales office and 18 parking spaces. Schiedemeyer revised the plan after Brentwood, Tenn., planning commissioners expressed concern about altering the zoning for the property on Carothers Parkway.

April 6, 2015

2 Min Read
Proposed Self-Storage Project Faces Zoning Dilemma in Brentwood, TN

Update 4/6/15 – Developer Brian Schiedemeyer has reduced the square footage of his proposed self-storage project from 101,200 to 98,412 square feet. The facility would also include a 1,000-square-foot sales office and 18 parking spaces. Schiedemeyer revised the plan after Brentwood, Tenn., planning commissioners expressed concern about altering the zoning for the property on Carothers Parkway.

Although city officials remain pleased with the project’s design, they are unsure that altering zoning for the project is a good idea. City staff have warned that changing the zoning or providing an exemption to allow self-storage could set an unfavorable precedent with future projects, according to the source.

The city’s five current self-storage facilities are all within C-3 zoning districts. Schiedemeyer has argued that self-storage is not specifically addressed within the planning code and should be permitted within a C-2 zone, the source reported.

The planning commission is expected to vote on the proposal this week.

11/7/14 – Brentwood, Tenn., planning commissioners this week told self-storage developer Brian Schiedemeyer, president of locally based Heartland Partners LLC, they admired the design he submitted for a proposed four-story facility but that he shouldn’t be optimistic about the project being approved. The development would require a zoning exception the commission is hesitant to provide, according to the source.

Schiedemeyer wants to build a 101,200-square-foot self-storage facility on the east side of Carothers Parkway, near a gas-station convenience store and hotel. The structure would have the exterior of an office building, with no roll-up doors visible from the outside. Customers would have access to the storage units seven days per week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to the source.

While commissioners praised the facility’s design, the targeted property is zoned C-2, which includes banks, department stores, gas stations and offices. Self-storage is zoned as a C-3 use, and the five storage facilities currently operating within the city are in C-3 districts, the source reported.

In their discussion of the project, commissioners were openly concerned about setting a precedent with a zoning exception, particularly with other C-3 sites available in the city. "Now I admit this is a beautiful project; it looks nice," Commissioner Bob Power said. "But we're just not taking advantage of the C-2 zoning we have here."

Some commissioners were also concerned that the Franklin residential community would border the project.

Although the commission didn’t vote on the proposal, commission chair Randy Campbell told Schiedemeyer not to be optimistic about the plan. "I'd say that it doesn't look promising that this commission would approve if you were to move forward with this," Campbell said.

Sources:

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