Mooresville, NC, Self-Storage Project Moves Forward Despite Public Pushback

Update 8/31/18 – GMF Ventures received zoning approval this week to build a three-story self-storage facility in Mooresville despite opposition from several residents. About a dozen community members attended Tuesday’s town-board meeting to speak against the project. They voiced concerns about the building height, whether the area needed more storage, and their preference for a different business type for the 2-acre parcel, according to a source.

Resident Doug Foland said the storage facility would be “massively out of place,” and he other homeowners “paid a premium to escape three-story eyesores.” Resident Fred Becker suggested a Costco warehouse would be more appropriate for the site. “In this case, there’s no need for a storage facility. I called the ones that were within five miles and they all have vacancies,” he added.

GMF Ventures representative Bill Haymore said he has spoken with neighbors about their concerns and the current site plan reflects several changes, including the building color, reduced lighting and more landscaping for natural screening. Access to the facility will be from the shopping center.

Prior to the vote, commissioner Lisa Qualls noted the property’s zoning allows for multiple uses that could be three stories, and the town doesn’t “have a lot of leeway” on zoning permits. The project must only be consistent with the comprehensive land-use plan. “There's no option. Either it meets the land-use plan or it doesn't,” she said.

Town attorney Stephen Gambill agreed, adding board officials can’t simply turn down the request because they don’t support it. The board must issue a “statement of reasonableness,” highlighting why a rezoning request does or doesn’t fit with the comprehensive land-use plan.

The board approved the zoning request 5-1, with Qualls voting against it.

4/10/18 – GMF Ventures, an affiliate of nonprofit Goodwill Industries International Inc., intends to develop a self-storage facility in the Food Lion shopping center in Mooresville, N.C., but it will have to convince citizens and town commissioners that storage is the best use for the site. Residents were particularly vocal in opposition to the project during a public hearing held by the board of commissioners on April 2. If approved, the two-story, indoor facility would be built on the western edge of the retail center near Brawley School and Stutts Roads, according to the source.

Though town staff and the planning board have recommended that commissioners approve the rezoning necessary for the project to move forward, residents objected to the proposed structure’s height and appearance in proximity to a 55-and-older community that’s nearing completion just 235 feet to the southeast. The community’s first residents are expected to move in to The Courtyards at Blume Pointe in the next few months, the source reported.

Public comments criticized the design as prison-like and ugly. One man told commissioners the building would block views of the sunset, while another argued the project would endanger the Peninsula Conservation area watershed.

Shopping-center owners Pat Crosby and Tim Dockery argued the storage facility would be eight feet taller than the plaza’s Walgreens and not block sunsets. They also noted that EPCON, the developer building The Courtyards community, removed a 300-foot wooded buffer between the properties, knowing the allowable zoning uses in the center. The self-storage project was determined to be a low-impact use and would likely block noise from a nearby convenience store currently under construction, Dockery said.

The board scheduled a second public hearing for May 7. It also directed GMF Ventures to update conceptual drawings to include trees and fencing promised by the developer to serve as a buffer between residences and the retail property.

Goodwill Industries is known primarily for its network of thrift stores, but the organization also provides employment-placement and job-training services as well as other community-based programs.

Sources:
Mooresville Tribune, Mooresville Self-Storage Project Delayed by Public Pushback
Mooresville Tribune, Mooresville Town Board: Rezoning Clears Way for Storage Facility