PUBLIC HEARING: Consider a Conditional Use Permit for Motor Vehicle Rental and Self-Storage Facilities for U-Haul at 8725 Riverdale Dr NW

Parul Butala and Sahithya Cheruku with Amerco Real Estate Company (the "Applicant") have submitted a Land Use Application on behalf of U-Haul (the "Permittee") for the development of an 8.73-acre parcel, bounded by U.S. Highway 10 to the north, Riverdale Drive to the south, and the Pearson Farm to the west. The project will consist of eight structures: 

• An approximately 37,728 square foot building on the west side of the lot to be used for climate-controlled self-storage, equipment dispatch and receiving, and retail sales;
• An approximately 11,088 square foot building on the east side of the lot to be used for pod-style self-storage;
• Five buildings, each measuring approximately 4,414 square feet, along the north side of the lot to be used for garage-style self-storage;
• An approximately 1,000 square foot canopy structure for equipment rental return and check-in operations.

In addition to the structures, the Applicant is proposing to construct 12 parking stalls for customers and employees and 17 parking stalls for rental trucks and trailers. There will be an additional parking area for the staging of rental trucks and trailers next to the canopy. In order to accommodate the proposed development, the Applicant is requesting a Conditional Use Permit for Motor Vehicle Rental and Self-Storage Facilities in the B-3 Zoning District.

Staff attempted to notify property owners within 350 feet of the Subject Property, as reflected in the Anoka County Property Records, of the request and the Public Hearing to be held by the Planning Commission. A notice of the Public Hearing was published in the Anoka County Union Herald, the City's official newspaper. A proposed development sign was placed on the property along Riverdale Drive, facing south toward the intersection with Snowy Owl Street.

Subject Property
The Subject Property, 8725 Riverdale Drive NW, is located in the southwestern part of Ramsey, bounded by U.S. Highway 10 to the north, Riverdale Drive to the south, and the Pearson Farm to the west. The Subject Property was recently rezoned to B-3, Regional Business District, alongside the Donna Farms final plat. It is guided for Commercial land uses in the City's 2040 Comprehensive Plan, and is approximately 8.73 acres in size. Surrounding properties to the west and east are also guided for Commercial land uses, and properties to the south (across Riverdale Drive) and north (across U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF railroad tracks) are guided for Residential land uses.

Site Plan
As noted above, the proposed Site Plan includes eight structures and associated parking areas for customers, employees, and rental trucks and trailers. The proposed development has 18.9 percent building coverage, and 65.2 percent impervious surfacing coverage (including all buildings, pavement, and sidewalks) on the lot. Other commercial developments of this nature in Ramsey have similar percentages. There will be two driveways into the site, each spaced at least 150 feet from the centerlines of Pearson Street and Snowy Owl Street, across Riverdale Drive from the site. This spacing will help facilitate safer traffic patterns into and out of the Subject Property.

The west building is designed to have the main retail entrance at its southeast corner, adjacent to the customer parking and close to the west driveway. The climate-controlled self-storage portion of the west building will have a separate entrance and loading area along the east side of the building. This building will be three stories tall, with a maximum roof height of 38.25 feet and a top-of-parapet height of 42.25 feet.

The east building is designed for U-Haul's U-Box storage, which consists of pod-like storage containers stacked inside the building. This building will have its main entrance facing westward, adjacent to customer parking stalls. There will also be a loading dock along the south side of the building. This building will technically be one story tall, although the clearance height will be taller to accommodate the stacking of the U-box units. This building will have a maximum roof height of 45 feet and a top-of-parapet height of 47.5 feet.

The five garage-style buildings along the north side of the site will each have twenty garage doors (ten on each long side), resulting in 100 garage-style storage units. These buildings are not proposed to be climate-controlled, and there will be no dedicated parking stalls for any of these five buildings. However, there will be 30-foot-wide drive aisles between each of these buildings to allow for customers to drive up to their respective storage unit to load and unload items.

Lastly, the check-in canopy is proposed to be located in the center of the site, just north of a 200-foot-long staging area for rental trucks and trailers. This canopy is intended to be the "landing spot" for customers looking to return rental equipment. The canopy will be built for drive-through operations, and will have a clearance height of 14 feet, which will accommodate all of U-Haul's rental trucks and trailers. Each of these buildings will be 10 feet tall.

Architecture and Building Elevations
The west and east buildings are both designed to consist primarily of insulated metal panels (Metl-Span Santa Fe) with a stucco appearance. Accent materials include lyrical articulated accent fins (in orange, lime green, and teal), dark-brown walnut lap siding, tilt-up concrete, and metal trim. The west building will also have storefront windows on the second and third floors at all four corners of the building, as well as a storefront window design on the first floor at the southeast corner of the building, surrounding the retail showroom. The garage doors on the west and east buildings will consist of ultra-grain walnut material, whereas the garage doors on the north storage buildings will be orange metal, similar to the company's branding.

Staff has requested more information on the building materials for the garage-style storage buildings along the north side of the lot. Staff has also requested a percentage breakdown of each of the materials to be used on each building, as it appears that metal will comprise more than 30 percent of each building facade, which is allowed by City Code. Additionally, Staff has requested that the Applicant provide a written justification for using more metal, as required in City Code Section 106-580. This written justification is intended to aid the Planning Commission and City Council in deciding whether the architectural metal panels meet the intent of the City's Zoning Code as listed in the "other" category.

Signage
The west building is proposed to have the following signage:

• A large 171.5-square-foot corrugated metal sign that reads "Your Storage Place", to be located in the center of the east facade;
• Four 45-square-foot illuminated cabinet signs with the U-Haul logo, to be located along the top of all four building facades;
• Three 68-square-foot channelized letter signs that read "Drive-In Self-Storage", to be located on the north, south, and east building facades;
• One 50-square-foot channelized letter sign that reads "Moving Supplies", to be located in the upper-left corner of the east facade;
• One 53-square-foot channelized letter sign that reads "Drive-In Storage", to be located above the garage doors on the east facade.

The east building is proposed to have the following signage:

• Two 37-square-foot illuminated cabinet signs with the U-Haul logo, to be located on the north and west facades;
• Two 110-square-foot illuminated cabinet signs with the "U-Box" logo, to be located below the U-Haul logos on the north and west facades;
• Two 59-square-foot channelized letter signs that read "Moving Containers, to be located below the "U-Box" logos on the north and west facades.

No signage is proposed to be installed on the garage-style buildings, and no freestanding, monument, or directional signs are proposed. If the Applicant chooses to add any additional signs to the site, they will be subject to regulations in City Code Chapter 117.

Landscaping Plan
As noted in the Environmental Policy Board's (EPB) staff report from July 15th, the submittal includes a Landscape Plan for the project.  The landscaping is focused primarily along the east and west sides of the Subject Property as well as along Riverdale Drive.  Staff requested various minor revisions to the original plan set, and it appears that all but one comment was addressed with their submittal of revised plans.  The only outstanding comment that needs to be addressed is adding a note to sheet L1.2 stating that the irrigation system must include some form of water efficient technology. 

Lighting Plan
Section 106-310 of City Code provides lighting regulations for all developments in the City. All photometric readings shall measure less than 0.5 footcandles at the property line and shall measure at least 1.0 footcandle throughout the parking lot in compliance with City Code.  The lighting plan includes a mix of freestanding and wall-mounted light fixtures to illuminate the site. All lighting must be downcast and shielded. Staff is working with the Applicant to ensure compliance with lighting regulations in City Code.

Utilities
The building will be connected to municipal water and sewer via stubs along Riverdale Drive. There will also be an infiltration basin along the south side of the property to manage storm water. The Applicant is using this basin, as well as additional landscaping along its south edge, to increase visual screening along Riverdale Drive.

Conditional Use Permit Standards for Motor Vehicle Rental and Self-Storage Facilities
As is common for most conditional uses in Ramsey, each of the requested conditional uses has a set of specific performance standards that needs to be met before that use can be approved. Those conditions are listed below, as stated in City Code Section 106-525 (in italics):

• Motor Vehicle Rental
  • In I-1 and I-2 districts, sales and inventory must be located indoors only. No outdoor displays of parking of sales vehicles are permitted. - The Subject Property is zoned B-3, so this condition does not directly apply. However, Staff has requested that all inventory and retail sales of non-motorized equipment, such as trailer hitches, be conducted indoors.
  • The building on the property must occupy at least ten percent of the buildable site. - The proposed building coverage is 18.9 percent of the lot, which satisfies this requirement.
  • A minimum lot area of one buildable acre is required. - The Subject Property is 8.73 acres in area, which satisfies this requirement.
  • Only one state-licensed business entity is allowed per property. - The Applicant has stated their intent to solely occupy the Subject Property as one entity (U-Haul), which satisfies this requirement under Planning Commission's review. State dealer's license applications are reviewed and approved administratively, and thus do not need review and approval by Planning Commission or City Council.
  • State wholesale and lessor licenses may be considered office uses provided no vehicles are located on site. - The Applicant is not proposing to operate a wholesale license, but there will be rental trucks and trailers stored on-site, so this condition does not apply.
  • Vehicle sales inventory and display lots must follow the same design requirements as a parking lot found in section 106-560. All vehicle parking spaces must have direct access to a drive aisle. - The site plan shows 17 standalone parking spaces for rental trucks and trailers, as well as a 200-foot-long shunting area for returned trucks and trailers, arranged for one-way traffic facing westbound. Staff has added several conditions to the CUP to ensure that all rental trucks and trailers are parking in designated parking spaces on-site, and that no vehicles may be parked in the driveways, drive aisles, or on Riverdale Drive.
• Self-Storage Facility
  • In B-2, the rental spaces within the principal structure must be internally-accessed and climate-controlled. - The Subject Property is zoned B-3, so this condition does not directly apply. However, the Applicant is proposing to allow for internally-accessed, climate-controlled storage units within the west building, in accordance with their business model, which satisfies this condition.
  • Multiple buildings on the same property are considered permitted. The architectural design of all buildings must be coordinated. - Staff is working with the Applicant to ensure compliance with this condition, and it has been included in the CUP as a condition of approval.

Additional Considerations
As noted throughout this staff report, there are several outstanding review comments, mainly pertaining to architecture, lighting, fire hydrant coverage, landscape irrigation, and utility specifications. The most recent versions of the architectural, civil, and landscape plans do not reflect these outstanding changes, but they are attached to this staff report for reference. Staff added a condition of approval to the Conditional Use Permit resolution, stating that the Applicant must resolve all outstanding review comments (Changemarks) in ProjectDox. The Applicant must address these comments prior to City Council's review and decision upon the Conditional Use Permit.

Alternatives
Alternative 1: Recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permit, contingent upon satisfying the conditions listed in Resolution #24-202.
Alternative 2: Continue the application to the next Planning Commission meeting, to be held on August 22nd, 2024, to give the applicant additional time to update the plans.
Alternative 3: Recommend denial of the Conditional Use Permit, based on supporting findings of fact.

All costs associated with this request are the Applicant's responsibility. 

Staff recommends approval of the Conditional Use Permit, contingent upon satisfying the conditions listed in Resolution #24-202 and having updated plans in time for City Council review.

Motion to recommend the City Council approve Resolution #24-202, Approving a Conditional Use Permit for Equipment Rental and Self-Storage Facilities at 8725 Riverdale Dr NW, subject to the conditions specified within the Resolution.