Is Port Royal becoming ‘storage capital of Lowcountry?’ Residents demand clampdown
Residents of Port Royal are calling for restrictions on future construction of personal storage units, arguing that a glut of the unsightly lockers already line the town’s main roads.
They’re not getting much resistance from town officials.
Town Council members on Wednesday unanimously gave preliminary approval to an ordinance that would remove personal storage facilities as a permitted use inside the so-called “T4 Neighborhood Center-Open Zoning District.” The vote followed a previous 4-1 recommendation from the Planning Commission. One more town council vote is required for final approval.
The T-4 district includes some 20 properties fronting some of the town’s busiest roads including Highway 170, Parris Island Gateway, Robert Smalls Parkway and Savannah Highway, said Noah Krepps, the town’s planning director.
The proposal comes as the growing town of more than 16,000 continues efforts to beautify its roads and attract new commercial business to boost its tax base. But the push to rein in new construction of storage facilities is not being driven by a particular project or coming from the town.
Rather, Rebecca Bass, a real estate agent who calls herself an “average citizen,” is leading the effort to put the brakes on storage rentals.
“We don’t want to become the storage capital of the Lowcountry,” Rebecca Bass told the Town Council Wednesday.
In July, Bass went to Town Hall and paid $250, which is the cost of proposing a text amendment to the zoning map. She proposed removing personal storage facilities from the list of permitted uses “T4 Neighborhood Center-Open Zoning District.”
The types of development she’s seen along some of the town’s major roads, she says, like personal storage units and giant apartment buildings, don’t fit with the comprehensive plan. She read portions of that plan when she lobbied for removal of storage units from the T4 zone. “This is a small and delicate place, and its evolution needs to be carefully considered so that the balance and harmony that make it special is not lost to ubiquitous “could be anywhere-ness.”
“We don’t believe that Port Royal needs any more storage units,” she added.
A Google search for personal storage units, she noted turned up more than 30 in Port Royal area.
The idea of limiting personal storage units has generally received a welcome response from the town.
“It shows what we are doing is going back, renewing and looking at things to see what betters suits the community,” Councilwoman Mary Beth Heyward said. “And that’s what this is all about is going back and taking a second look at what’s good today where it might not have been good 10 years ago.”
While the reason storage units tend to be along major roads is they offer free advertising that comes when people drive by, Mayor Kevin Phillips said, “That frontage space, there’s only so much of that and we do want to get the best use of that for our citizens.”
“They’re right on the main drag and that’s where you see all these storage units and I’ve always wondered, why can’t they just be back one row, why do they got to be on the main stretch?” Phillips said.
There have been voices of caution too.
Councilman Jerry Ashmore, while voting for the ordinance, said he likes people coming into the town of Port Royal and many who do must rent first. He added that Port Royal has a large military population, which he supports, and those in the military are often in situations where they are renting space to store their belongings.
“I appreciate everybody’s concern, but I want that to be on the record,” Ashmore said. “There’s more to Port Royal than “we don’t want renters,’” because we do. I know a lot of people in here are renters and they vote and they pay taxes and they show up and support our community.”
Town Administrator Van Willis says one real estate agent has called the town to express concerns with how the proposed ordinance change could affect plans for property along Highway 170.
The town, Willis added, already is addressing existing storage units by preventing expansion when they are considered “non-conforming uses.”
Bass said she built her dream house in Port Royal after falling in love with the “cool coastal ambiance” and natural beauty of the area. But she’s become disappointed with the kinds of development she sees alongside the big roads the bisect the town — including Parris Island Gateway — including a proliferation of rental storage facilities.
Some 20 vacant lots are located within the T4Neighborhood Center-Open Zoning District, she says, and half of those are large enough to accommodate storage units. Construction of additional units, she says, would lead to additional run-off to the area’s estuaries. She would like to see projects on that vacant land that “complements the natural beauty and preserves the character of our build environment,” which she says would be in line with the stated purposes of the town’s own comprehensive plan.
David Strange, a resident who served on a committee that put together the town’s most recent 10-year comprehensive plan, said open lands in the T4 should be developed in a way that boosts the tax base and bring people together so the town doesn’t lose its identity. When he spoke in favor of the plan to limit storage units, he cited the town’s motto: “Cool, Coastal and Far from Ordinary.” “Storage units are not cool,” he said.
This story was originally published August 15, 2024 at 1:19 PM.
