The Stanwood, Washington, City Council unanimously voted last week to temporarily ban self-storage development. The six-month moratorium won’t affect existing facilities but will pause new applications, according to the source.

The emergency zoning regulation was enacted during the Oct. 27 meeting as city officials were drafting their 2024 comprehensive plan, which’ll outline policies for population growth and development for the next 20 years. Each city and county in the state is expected to revisit this document regularly under the Growth Management Act.

The current land-use regulations have the capacity to meet the city’s 2044 population targets, however, the municipality is short 251 jobs on its employment goal. Self-storage doesn’t fit with reaching this target, according to Patricia Love, community-development director.

“It's not that we don't think [self-storage facilities] are needed,” she said. “It's just that we have a limited amount of industrial land left, and so trying to identify the most appropriate uses of that limited supply is important to us.”

Once the time limit expires, officials can renew the freeze, prohibit self-storage permanently or adjust its zoning requirements. Love hopes they can reach a resolution within a year.

Source: Stanwood Camano News, Stanwood City Council Temporarily Bans Mini Storage Facilities