The Ferndale City Council recently approved a 6-month emergency moratorium on new applications for storage and mini-storage facilities. Councilmembers and staff struggled with the decision during Monday’s council meeting, with both city staff and councilmembers saying they did not like the idea of a moratorium on business development but saw the need.
Turns out, Ferndale is not alone in dealing with what appears to be a dramatic increase in applications to develop new storage facilities across the region.
Federal Way City Council voted to put a halt on these types of projects for at least a year according to a story in the Federal Way Mirror. In September, when their moratorium was approved, 4 applications had already been received and would proceed unimpeded by the moratorium. But there was reported to be at least 5 proposed storage facility developments that would be delayed by the moratorium.
The Pouslbo City Council also recently approved a 6-month moratorium on new mini-storage businesses and expansions in August. According to a story in the Kitsap Sun, “With four existing storage businesses in that zone or near the highway, council members unanimously approved the measure, citing concerns about preserving the city’s character.” The moratorium would temporarily block 3 proposed developments from moving forward.
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Click for more informationBack in August of 2016, the City of Shoreline City Council enacted a 6-month emergency moratorium on the acceptance of all applications for self-service storage facilities. This was later reduced to a 4-month moratorium.
The City of Ferndale ordinance imposing the emergency moratorium noted that the City was already processing “several” development applications for additional storage facilities and was aware of at least 4 pending applications.
A public hearing on the moratorium is required to be held within 60 days of adopting the ordinance.
