Rock Hill, SC, City Council Enacts 6-Month Moratorium on Self-Storage Development

Update 3/29/18 – The Rock Hill City Council gave preliminary approval on Monday to several zoning amendments that would exclude self-storage as an allowable use without a special exception and conditional uses. Based on recommendations from the study the city conducted during its moratorium, self-storage and boat/RV-storage facilities would be barred from the municipality’s nine residential districts and three commercial zones. Case-by-case special exceptions would be allowable in seven commercial districts, while two industrial zones would include storage as a conditional use, according to the source.

“These facilities cannot be located in redevelopment corridors, in walkable commercial areas and in high-visibility locations,” Bill Meyer, city planning and development director, told the source.

The study also determined self-storage market supply is nearing 9 square feet per person. “We’re toward the upper end of that and, if anything, over-served,” Meyer said. “We have plenty [self-storage units] available here right now.”

The council must still take a second vote to make the changes official. No timeline was reported on when the second vote could take place. The storage moratorium is expected to continue through mid-May, unless it’s lifted in favor of the new zoning changes.

11/16/18 – The Rock Hill City Council voted to place a six-month moratorium on self-storage development on Nov. 12, confirming its preliminary decision last month. City staff will now examine which zoning districts, if any, should be considered compatible with self-storage use, according to the source.

“It’s really just there to give us a pause,” said Mayor John Gettys. “It gives us time where we can all get around the table and see what might work, instead of where we make it feel like people go to their corners.”

Gettys indicated that an increase in self-storage development proposals is a positive sign of local economic growth. “Being the fastest growing county in the country, this is one of those things that no one saw coming,” he said.

10/25/18 – The Rock Hill, S.C., City Council is taking steps to enact a six-month moratorium on new self-storage development and limit where these projects could be built. In a preliminary vote on Monday, council members unanimously favored two proposals presented by city attorney Paul Dillingham, according to the source. A second vote will be required to finalize the ordinances.

The moratorium will give city planners time to examine zoning rules and districts, and consider changes to ensure possible storage development sites are “compatible with existing businesses,” Dillingham said. “The city has recently seen an influx of mini-warehouse and storage facility-proposals,” he added.

The proposed ordinances state self-storage is being built on major intersections and high-visibility sites, and is “contrary to aspects of the city’s established plans and policies.” The zoning restriction would assign new storage construction to the city’s two industrial areas.

“We spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of resources planning, and looking at our long-range plan,” said councilmember John Black. “Sometimes I think we need to take a break and look, make sure areas of our long-range plan are going in the same direction.”

Sources:
The Herald, Rock Hill Halts Approving More Storage Sites Awaiting Answers. Those Answers Are In.
The Herald, Rock Hill Says No More Self-Storage Business Sites, for Now. What’s next?
The Herald, Enough Self Storage Sites Already? Rock Hill Mulls Whether to Allow More
WSOCTV, Rapidly Spreading Self Storage Units Could Be Restricted in Charlotte Area