Residents in the Town of Ogden who live along Rt. 31 (Brockport Spencerport Road) just east of the Washington Street intersection, are closely watching an application by Highway View Mini-Storage to erect a facility with 16 storage buildings (totaling 480 units) and two smaller buildings totaling approximately 35 units, on property located between their homes and the Rt. 531 expressway.
“If this self storage shed business is allowed to be built behind our neighborhood, our homes’ prices will plummet and our neighborhood will be drastically changed,” resident Duane Gaul tells the Suburban News/The Herald.
Ogden Building Inspector Patrick Smith says Highway View Mini-Storage presented its Concept Site Plan to the Ogden Planning Board April 9. He explains that the Planning Board decided that the proposed self-service storage facility is an appropriate use for the property and has notified the Town Board of their decision.
That decision sets in motion a detailed process outlined in Town Code that regulates and authorizes self-service storage facilities.
The Town Board must re-zone the site to a self-service storage overlay district and will set a public hearing on the proposal in the near future, Smith said. If it is eventually approved by the Town Board, the proposal would go back to the Planning Board and proceed through the normal approval process there, including another public hearing.
An additional public hearing would be held by the Zoning Board if the Planning Board eventually approves. The Zoning Board provides, “.. an extra hoop,” Smith says.
Members of the 31 West Neighborhood Association attended the April 9 meeting. In 2011, they fought against a proposed self-storage business on the site and the proposal was withdrawn.
Town leaders worked for more than two years to address concerns of residents over the zoning issue and last year adopted a local law which created the self-service storage overlay district and provides a procedure for siting the facilities within the listed zoning districts in the town.
