Post Falls Planning and Zoning OKs plans for mini-storage

POST FALLS — The Post Falls Planning and Zoning Commission in a 4-2 vote on Tuesday approved to recommend a special use permit for a mini-storage to be constructed in a neighborhood between Megan Street and Corbin Road, north of Interstate 90 and south of Craig Avenue.

The 211-unit storage facility would be built on more than 6 acres within single-family residential and high-density multi-family residential zones. It was presented to the commission by Scott McArthur of McArthur Engineering on behalf of CORSTOR LLC.

Four commissioners voted in favor. Commissioners Vicky Jo Carey and James Steffensen cast the dissenting votes.

Concerns regarding crime, light and noise pollution and other matters were discussed. A few people who live in the area wrote in or spoke against the project during the meeting, including Alex Sherman, who lives on Megan Street. He discussed a possible decrease of property value and an increase in traffic and safety issues.

“Right at Craig and Corbin, there are a bunch of neighbors, a lot of children going around playing, and that area might get congested and there might be issues with traffic accidents,” he said.

Sherman said with the current housing crisis, this land would be of better use if it remained residential to accommodate future growth.

“Just to give you a reference, Seltice alone has four self-storage units, and within a half-mile radius of that property, there’s already seven self-storage units,” he said. “This is way saturated for our area.”

Casey Browning, who also lives on Megan Street, is concerned about the neighborhood being the access to the storage facility.

“This would create a dangerous situation for children” bringing in heavy, unwanted traffic, he said.

McArthur said this facility is projected to generate 20 trips of people going in and out a day, much less than the 300 or so trips generated by those in multi-family structures.

“Regardless of averages or interpretations of traffic, I think it’s … significantly less with use of the storage facility on the property,” he said, adding the same is true of traffic impact and safety of kids in the neighborhood.

“It’s not the lesser of two evils, it’s what’s best for the property,” McArthur said.

The commission also unanimously voted to approve a recommendation to annex a 4.75-acre parcel into the city of Post Falls south of 16th Avenue and to the east of Brady Street.

These recommendations will go before the Post Falls City Council at future meetings.

Prior to the regular meeting, the commission held a workshop regarding cottage homes in Post Falls. Cottage homes are detached residential structures between 600-1,200 square feet. They can be constructed in the city, but no standards are presently in place. Staff is desiring to create standards before an application from the community is applied for. An ordinance on the matter will tentatively be presented to the city council in December.