- November 21, 2024
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Palm Coast may get yet another new self-storage facility on Old Kings Road.
"Residential properties ... are well buffered by a high quality wetland system, and the only really neighbor that the storage facility would have would be I-95."
— RAY TYNER, Palm Coast deputy chief development officer
Unlike the two other self-storage facilities that received initial approval within the past two months, this one — approximately 36 acres on the west side of Old Kings Road, about 1.4 miles north of its intersection with Palm Coast Parkway — does not feature outdoor boat and RV storage.
The city of Palm Coast's Planning and Land Development Regulation Board on Feb. 16 approved a Tier 2 technical site plan for the proposed Kings Crossing Storage facility, which will feature 69,741 feet of space spread across two buildings at 125 Old Kings Road N.
One of the buildings would be 10,011 square feet and one story, while the other would be 59,730 square feet and two stories.
The facility would have 838 storage spaces.
The site initially received a special exception in 2019, before a new owner, Storage Units Palm Coast, LLC, bought the property in March 2020.
The location presented tricky design and engineering problems because of wetlands and a canal on the property, and the city had approved the 2019 special exception application with 20 city-imposed conditions, city Deputy Chief Development Officer Ray Tyner told planning board members at the meeting.
The technical complexities had also strained the project's engineering staff.
"Before this project, I didn't use hair color; now I'm a Clairol M9: This project has just about worn us out," project engineer Dan Wilcox said. "It is a tough one."
Stormwater compensation and potential runoff during construction were major issues, and the design uses features like silt screen barriers to prevent runoff from affecting the wetlands during the building process.
The wetlands, while tricky to work around, also do provide a benefit by serving as a buffer, Tyner said.
"Any of the residential properties ... are well buffered by a high quality wetland system, and the only really neighbor that the storage facility would have would be I-95," he said.
The owner expects the storage space to be used for residential goods and small business storage.
The proposal, as it came before the planning board, does not allow for outside boat or RV storage, but the developer left open the possibly of seeking permission for that as well in the future.
The two other storage facilities that recently received initial approval on Old Kings Road are the Secure Space self-storage facility, which received the City Council's approval on Jan. 4 for a special exception and rezoning for a site on Old Kings Road at about a half a mile north of the Town Center Boulevard; and the RF2 Storage facility, which received the planning board's approval Jan. 19 for a special exception for a site on the east side of Old Kings Road just under a mile north of its intersection with Town Center Boulevard.
A Take 5 Express Car Wash earned the planning board's initial approval Feb. 16 for a site in the Shoppes of Palm Coast shopping center at the intersection of Belle Terre Boulevard and State Road 100.
The board approved a special exception application to allow the car wash in the city's general commercial district. The site is a 1-acre parcel between Taco Bell and Starbucks to the west, and the Culver's restaurant to the east. It had originally been slated to become a Gate gas station.
Board member Sandra Shank expressed concerns about how the car wash would affect traffic flow in the shopping center.
"Sometimes during lunch, especially, the adjacent businesses already have an extensive number of vehicles that are stacked in a driveway," she said. "So I'm just concerned about the overall safety of that."
Tyner said the city had worked with the applicant to ensure that the three-lane car wash would not have a stacking problem.
The board voted 6-1, with Shank dissenting, to approve the special exception application.
