Ottawa plan commission backs self-storage facility as potential gateway to north side development

The Ottawa Plan Commission recommended approval of a conditional use permit for a self-storage facility on Etna Road, the potential first phase of a larger 28-acre development planned on the city’s north side.

Sean Garrett, project developer at Columbus Development Co., is under contract for the 4.5-acre storage site and holds an option on the remaining acreage.

Garrett gave a presentation to planning commission members on Tuesday night, explaining the facility would serve as a possible starting point for a long-term plan that includes professional offices, medical offices, banks and specialty retailers in the area.

“This development won’t look like a business park,” Garrett said. “It’s designed to coexist with what’s already on Etna Road.”

Among the many reasons why Garrett likes the location, the land lies within a tax increment financing district.

Garrett explained revenues generated from the first phase, including property taxes from the self-storage site, could help fund the $1.5 million extension of Centennial Drive to access the rest of the property.

“This is a clean, quiet use that gets the project going,” Garrett said. “It allows us to begin generating tax revenue and building momentum.”

Garrett has over 20 years of commercial real estate experience, including shopping centers and self-storage developments across Illinois.

He told commissioners that due to low traffic counts on Etna Road – roughly 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles every day - the area does not support national retail but is set up well for smaller commercial and “flex-space” development.

The site is currently zoned D (light industrial), though surrounding land uses along Etna Road are mostly office and commercial.

Several commission members questioned the sense of the industrial zoning there and suggested the area may have been improperly zoned in the past.

Garrett emphasized that the storage facility would include no outdoor storage, no fencing and no tall parking lot lighting.

He proposed a single curb cut and said the facility would be set back more than 75 feet beyond code minimums, with 40% of the site preserved as green space.

“Self-storage may not be glamorous,” Garrett said, “but it’s the least disruptive use for nearby residents. It’s a way to create progress without compromising what’s already there.”

Commission members recommended the project require additional landscaping, including trees or dense greenery along the street to screen the metal buildings from view of the residents on the other side of Etna.

Garrett said he was open to working with the city’s design review board to address those concerns.

The Ottawa City Council will consider the recommendation at their upcoming meeting next week at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 1 at City Hall, 301 W Madison St.

Notably, even with council’s approval next week, the project is not guaranteed to move forward.

The conditional use permit would allow the facility to be built, but final construction depends on additional approvals, financing and the developer actually closing on the property.