OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The Marion County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a special use permit for outdoor storage in southeastern Marion County at their meeting Aug. 19.

The owner is Partners Self Storage, LLC, the applicant is Klein & Klein, and the subject property encompasses two parcels and is located just east of Belleview, said Eric Kramer, Marion County growth services planner.

It’s an 11-acre site, which was formerly an Elks Lodge. The special use permit is for outdoor storage RVs, boats and any ancillary use for vehicle storage, and staff did clarify what was meant by ancillary storage. The special use permit is being run with the life of the property. The current zoning allows the applicant to go forward with the mini-warehouse and storage facility by-right, but it also requires all commercial activity indoors.

The access to the site is at the corner of SE Hwy. 25A and E. Hwy 25 and there is a signalized intersection. The concept plan proposes to continue to use the existing driveway access. The property has a great deal of vegetation along the perimeter. It’s in the urban growth boundary, the secondary springs’ protection zone and lies within the Belleview utility service area.

Staff and the planning and zoning board recommended approval with conditions. The project would be developed consistent with the concept plan. The outdoor parking storage uses would be limited to RVs, boats and trailers or any licensed and registered vehicle. Staff made it clear that no running vehicles or refrigerated vehicles would be allowed to be stored. The perimeter of the buffer would enclose the parking area, which should be internal to the site.

If any of the conditions were not to be in compliance, then the special use permit would be revoked. There was some concern about the special use permit running with the property. If the storage facility wished to expand, they would be required to get a new special use permit, if they wanted to add a new outdoor storage area.

Marion County Vice Chair Carl Zalak, III, had questions about what the roof line was going to look like at the facility. The roll up storage height should be 10 to 12 feet, said Ethan White, Klein & Klein, who was representing the applicant. A stipulation was included if the applicant wanted to include covered parking, they would have to bring it back before the board, for a modification of the special use permit, said Zalak, III.

The future land use map has the property designated commercial, but it’s surrounded by medium residential. The current zoning is community business and is intended to provide service needs to a community in the surrounding vicinity.

However, what was particularly of note was that all commercial activity involving retail sales or rentals should take place in a completely enclosed building. The applicant wanted to have some of their commercial activity outdoors and requested the outdoor special use permit. It would require opaque screening to block the views of the outdoor storage from other incompatible uses and adjacent roadways, meaning the residential portions that are on the north, east and west of the subject property as well as E. Hwy. 25.

Subdivisions in close proximity include Belleview Oak Estates and Belleview Oak Estates Unit 2 and Danbury. Another development that would be nearby is Highland Belleview East that’s currently going through the platting process. There is a gas station, convenience store and auto repair shop in close proximity and there is some agricultural use in the area, but it is an urbanizing and suburbanizing area, said Kramer. The Duke Electricity substation is also in near proximity. As far as the compatibility with outdoor storage and the residential areas. there are buffer and screening conditions.

As long as the pull-up storage doesn’t have windows on the side facing adjacent properties, they can act as a wall, and staff would recommend allowing the applicant to use the back of the building as walls for a buffer and filling in the gaps with a 6-foot minimum opaque vinyl screening. Where there’s no pull-up storage proposed, staff would look to see a continuation instead of providing a wall for the consistency of the project to provide vinyl opaque fencing. A property owner previously had concerns about exterior lighting.