City of O'Fallon Planning Commission met April 22

Jerry Mouser, City Clerk | City of O'Fallon

By Angelica Saylo Pilo

May 22, 2025

City of O'Fallon Planning Commission met April 22

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

1. OPENING:

1.1 CALL TO ORDER

1.2 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Chair, Larry Sewell, called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.

1.3 ROLL CALL: Debbie Arell-Martinez, present; Mike Skrabacz, not present; Bob Dunn, not present; Al Keeler, not present; Tiffany Lugge, present; Bob Kueker, present; Ray Rohr, present; Casey Scharven, present; Larry Sewell, present. Quorum was declared present by Sewell.

1.4 APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion was made by Rohr and seconded by Lugge to approve the minutes of April 8, 2025, meeting. All Ayes. Motion carried.

2. Public Hearings:

2.1 – Zoning amendment subject to the Planned Use Ordinance to approve the change of planned use with conditions.

Greg Anderson, Community Development Director, provided an overview of the proposed development for the subject property. An overview of the property history is listed below:

• The existing building was formerly used for automotive sales and repair by a St. Clair Auto Mall dealer group.

• The applicant, Kenny Buelterman of ZK O’Fallon, LLC, plans to use the existing building, utilities, and parking lot for a mini warehouse/self-storage facility.

• Per Section 158.116 of the City Code of Ordinances, a change in use for mini warehouses requires a planned use approval.

• The development will be constructed in a single phase. The existing building is approximately 15,500 square feet and will be renovated to a 46,668 square foot storage facility that will provide 350 storage units and 150 square feet of office space. The applicant is seeking to add a 10,575 square foot addition to the east of the existing building and a 25,925 square foot addition to the west of the existing building.

Anderson, presented an overview of the proposed development of land totaling 2.44-acres located at 1690 New Car Drive, including the following details:

Current Zoning:

• Adjacent Zoning and Land Uses include the following details: abutting North is B-2 (I-64, Dodge Moving and Storage, abutting East is B-1(P) (Detention Basin, Walmart Supercenter). Abutting South is B-1(P) (Vacant Parking Lot, Academy Sports), and abutting West is B-1 (Vacant Property).

• The Future Land Use Map of the 2040 Master Plan depicts the subject property as Regional Commercial. The Regional Commercial category includes regional retail, restaurants, hotels/conference center, entertainment/recreational facilities and more. The primary business of self-storage is not typically considered a regional commercial use, however, the reuse of the auto dealership building, primarily as a storage facility, does work in this area. Staff does not anticipate the use to detract from the goals of the Future Land Use Map.

• The proposed a site plan that includes the existing 14,626 square foot building to be renovated and expanded into a 46,668 square foot storage facility for 350 storage units and 150 square feet of office space. Two-thirds of the building will be climate controlled. The remainer of the property will remain 49,275 square feet of parking/impervious area and 10,343 square feet of open area.

• The proposed additions will comply with the minimum setback requirements. Access and Parking:

• Access to the site is from New Car Drive.

• Based upon the study, the developer requests a variance to adjust the site parking requirements allowing one (1) space per seventy (70) storage units, with a comprehensive demand allowance of 6 parking spaces.

• Parking space size: Code requires 10’ x 19’ parking spaces with 24’ aisles (62’ modules).

• The proposed development has six 10’ x 20’ parking spaces on the south side of original building with accessible parking (One (1) accessible parking space required, one (1) provided).

• There is no change to the existing sidewalk on Auto Court, therefore meeting the required development standards.

• The fire apparatus access has been reviewed.

Landscaping:

• Staff recommends landscaping in buffer along New Car Drive.

• The landscape plan has not been submitted for review. The landscape plans will meet the intent of the City’s requirements for landscaping the parking lot, as required by § 158.144.

Drainage:

• The City of O’Fallon provides public water to this site by a 6” water main along the frontage of Auto Court. Caseyville Township will be providing sanitary sewer and is currently on site. There will be no change to the existing utilities. The site has regional detention facilities.

Dumpster Enclosure:

• To be depicted on site plan revisions. All dumpster enclosures are to be enclosed with a structure of similar building materials.

Signage:

• The City’s sign code allows for each establishment to have one wall sign, for each wall facing an on or offsite parking lot or street frontage, up to a maximum of three wall signs. City regulations permit each sign to have an area of up to 10% of the wall, not exceeding 300 square feet of signage.

• Existing freestanding signs.

Variance Requested:

• 1 parking space per 70 units. Allowing 6 parking spaces including 1 ADA parking space.

• The City’s parking code requires four (4) parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet of mini-warehouse space and one (1) parking space per five (5) storage units. The proposed building will have approximately 150 square feet of office space (1 parking space) and no onsite employees. The primary use will include 350 storage units (70 parking spaces) for a total of 71 required parking spaces.

• The applicant’s request for an alternative parking plan is based upon The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Parking Generation Manual, 6th Edition. The ITE Parking Generations Manual, 6th Edition proposes land use of 151 Mini Warehouse per storage units (100s) for a General Urban/Suburban Location, rates per 100 storage units are 1.26, Monday through Friday with a peak demand of 5:00 pm.

• The requested alternative parking plan for the 350-unit storage facility would require five (5) parking spaces, per the ITE Manual. A study on an existing storage unit facility was conducted, showing approximately three visitors every two hours for a storage facility with 375 units.

Conformity with Master Plan:

• Project promotes the redevelopment of lands with existing infrastructure and public services and the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing residential, commercial and industrial structures. The reuse of the building begins the redevelopment process of the St. Clair Auto Mall. This development will utilize a vacant building.

• This development infills an underdeveloped property in O’Fallon with access to infrastructure and public services.

Anderson added that mini-warehousing/self-storage would typically not be recommended for approval on a site zoned B-1. Sites zoned B-1 are more appropriate for commercial businesses that generate sales tax revenue or for office space. However, since this location is within the former Auto Mall and conformity with the Master Plan goal, staff recommends approval.

Kenny Buelterman, applicant, described the development.

Commission members asked for more information on the climate-controlled units and the access gate.

Buelterman reported the gate access card system that would only open during hours of operation. The key card system is trackable, providing information of who and when cards are used for entry.

Buelteman described the climate control units and access for such units are within the interior of the building.

Public Comments were opened.

There were no public comments.

No additional comments from commission.

Staff Recommendation:

Anderson read the Staff Recommendation as follows:

Staff recommends approval of the project with the following conditions:

1. Allowance of an alternative parking plan, based upon The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) findings, requiring one (1) space per seventy (70) storage units, with a comprehensive demand allowance of 6 parking spaces.

2. The storage lot will be enclosed with a 6-foot vinyl privacy fence.

3. The hours of operation are to remain 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., not a 24-hour access location.

4. Installation of security system that encompasses the entire property.

5. Installation of a License Plate Reader system for additional security measures.

6. The photometric plans are to meet city code.

7. The landscape plans are to meet city code.

8. The City of O’Fallon’s Commercial Design Guidelines must be met.

Motion was made by Rohr and seconded by Kueker to accept the Staff Recommendation.

ROLL CALL to approve Staff Recommendation: Debbie Arell-Martinez, aye; Tiffany Lugge, aye; Bob Kueker, aye; Ray Rohr, aye; Casey Scharven, aye; Larry Sewell, aye; 6 ayes, 0 nay, motion carried.

The planned use moves to the Community Development Committee on Monday, May 12, 2025, at 6:00pm (time can vary).

Public Comments were opened.

• No additional comments.

Public Comments were closed.

3. REPORTS:

Staff anticipates a Planning Commission meeting May 13th, 2025, at 6pm.

4. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Public Comments were opened.

No one spoke.

Public Comments were closed.

5. ADJOURNMENT:

Motion was made by Scharven and seconded by Lugge. All ayes. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 6:24 pm.