Officials in Old Lyme, Connecticut, may place zoning restrictions on self-storage development along Shore Road after an application received by the town called for three, 35-foot-tall buildings near one of the town’s beach communities. During a recent zoning-commission meeting, board members also discussed the possibility of placing a six-month moratorium on future applications, according to the source.
The discussion was spurred by the proposal submitted by Kid’s Realty LLC and Pond Road LLC, who initially made this proposal in 2021 and withdrew it after more than 100 residents signed a petition in opposition. A second application was denied in May, in part because officials said there was a lack of precedent for buildings that tall in the neighborhood. The applicants are appealing that denial in court, though the latest proposal is expected to be formally reviewed on Oct. 10, the source reported.
The moratorium is one of several possibilities the town can pursue to set new self-storage building standards. Commissioners also discussed minimum distances between storage businesses, changing the bulk standards and zoning elements for commercial buildings, as well as the possibility of establishing a special Shore Road district with its own zoning regulations.
A moratorium would give officials time to put new regulations in place before the end of the delay, commission chair Paul Orzel said. The ban would apply only to new self-storage applications, not those already submitted, according to Eric Knapp, the town’s zoning-enforcement officer.
“What we have facing the road are three big buildings with security fences [and] lights. The aesthetic going down there are kind of like Stalag 13,” said commissioner Mike Miller. “What we’re trying to do is look at our zoning regs on storage units and say that if we’re going to have storage units in our town, this is how we want them built.”
Commissioners are expected to make recommendations on potential self-storage and other business-use restrictions on Shore Road next month, according to the source.
Source: CT Examiner, Plans for Self-Storage Business in Old Lyme Spur Talk of New Commercial Zoning