September 25, 2020

1 Min Read
Nampa, ID, Officials Consider New Zoning Regulations for Self-Storage

Nearly a year after city officials in Nampa, Idaho, ended a moratorium on new self-storage, they’re again considering how to handle this development type. The Nampa Planning and Zoning Department (NPZD) is deliberating a zoning amendment that would prevent new self-storage development within 2,500 feet of an existing storage location. Facility expansions would be limited to the property boundaries, according to an Aug. 11 staff report.

City council members adopted a moratorium on new storage development on June 3, 2019, but dropped the ban last November. It was enacted to give city officials time to regulate new proposals following an increase in applications. In addition to maintaining continuity with zoning districts, they aimed to preserve industrially zoned properties for businesses that would bring jobs and improve economic vitality of the community, the report stated.

Although the 2,500-foot buffer was introduced during an August 2019 workshop between the council and NPZD, it wasn’t added to the revised ordinance at the time. NPZD members said the mandate was an “overreach of government and should be left to the market to decide how many storage units get developed and where they should go.”

Council members soon determined they were limited in their ability to deny new self-storage developments under the legal criteria for approving or denying a conditional-use permit. As such, they asked city staff to bring the buffer proposal before the NPZD again.

The newly proposed restriction would allow exceptions for multi-story facilities within existing pre-existing buildings. However, a minimum of 50 percent of the ground-floor square footage would need to include retail, office or restaurants.

Sources:
City of Nampa, Agenda
Idaho Press, Nampa Hits Pause on New Storage Units, Rethinks Zoning

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