Worcester County, Md., commissioners approved a text amendment last week that will allow self-storage facilities with 40,000 square feet of gross floor area (GFA) to be built in its C-2 general commercial district. Self-storage had previously been limited to 15,000 GFA or less, according to the source.

The update was spurred by Hugh Cropper, an attorney representing Arden Center LLC. It isn’t clear why Arden was seeking the zoning change. “We think it’s consistent with the intent of the code,” Cropper told commissioners.

Cropper initially proposed an amendment that would have created a special exception for self-storage facilities larger than 15,000 square feet GFA and added a subsection to allow up to 40,000 square feet GFA, the source reported. County staff recommended a simplified version of the amendment, which the commission adopted.

“Upon review the staff felt that since self-storage was much like warehousing, which is already allowed to be up to 100,000 square feet in gross floor area in the C-2 general commercial district by right, it was not necessary to stipulate that self-storage up to 40,000 square feet required a special exception,” wrote Ed Tudor, director of development review and permitting, in a report to commissioners.

The commission voted 6-0 in favor of the amendment, with one commissioner absent.

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