From the February - March 2001 Edition 

Self Storage Proposal Before Zoning Board  (provided by the developer)   PROPOSAL & REASONS FOR USE VARIANCE RELIEF SAFEGUARD Self Storage is a national self-storage provider with state of the art facilities located throughout the north east, central and southwestern United States.  The industry has grown and significantly evolved from the original concept of self-storage.  Today’s facilities such as the one proposed, caters to both residential and small business users, who need additional space for their storage needs.  The facility provides not only an attractive appearance and service to the community, but also provides a unique ratable with minimal negative impacts.  SAFEGUARD is interested in locating a facility within the Borough of Fair Lawn, and is submitting this Use Variance plan for consideration prior to applying to the Borough’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. The proposed project is located on a 1.44 acre site on 24-10 and 24-20 Broadway in a B-2/R-1-3 (General Business/One Family Residential) Zone.  The property, identified as Block 3219.01, Lot 1, has an existing 2 story building of approximately 42,154 square feet. SAFEGUARD’S proposal is to convert an existing two story building of approximately 42,154 square feet and construct an additional building of approximately 39,109 square feet for use as a self-storage facility (with access provided from Plaza Road) of which 60,000 square feet would be net rentable units within the existing and proposed buildings.  The buildings will be attractively designed using various architectural features, such as block, split faced block, metal architectural panels, glass along with a storefront entrance on the other side of the property away from the Ellington Road community between the two buildings.   The building is considered “state of the art” in the industry, equipped with an elevator, a climate controlled environment and a sophisticated security system.  The interior of the building will consist of approximately 540-560 climate-controlled units with a small retail office, loading vestibules and an elevator lobby.  The user accesses the building through a main entrance and proceeds to their individual unit.  The facility is supervised by one or two staff persons and will operate from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays.  A typical customer stays with us for 6-8 months during which time they come in, sign their lease and store their goods paying their rent by credit card.  This type of customer base gives us very low traffic volume (lowest of any commercial use).  Industry standards including Safeguard’s would indicate a store of this size would generate approximately 18-24 cars per day.  This statistic directly correlates to parking needs.  The average parking for a store of this size would be between 4-8 spaces.  It is very rare that you see two or more customers on site once a store has reached stabilization. The facility makes limited demands on the municipality and these impacts can be assessed as follows: Waste  There is little to no waste generated both in terms of solid waste and sanitary waste as there are only one to two employees at any given time and a private hauler attends to the limited solid waste. Noise   The noise is limited because the facility has few employees, needs virtually no deliveries or restocking of supplies and has limited traffic volume.  The loading and unloading into the facility is typically done from cars or SUV’s since it is primarily used by residential and small business users. Public Water   There is minimal demand on the public water supply since there are only one or two employees, and no water is required for the product or service it provides. Municipal Services  The facility makes minimal demands on the municipal services., i.e. roads, infrastructure and none on the school system. 1. There will be no lights along the south and west elevations and any lights on the site would not reflect onto the Ellington Road community; 2. No access at any time, for any reason onto Ellington Road through the Safeguard Property; 3. No HVAC units along the southern or western walls. Roof mounted units will be moved as far north as possible to maximize the distance from Ellington Road residents; 4. No doors in the building along the southern and western elevations; 5. No large trucks (18 wheeler’s) at the site.  The customer base we attract typically use a car or SUV.   As alluded to above, self-storage and the type of facility proposed has recently evolved and is an unusual use.  These modern facilities have not yet been recognized in many community zoning ordinances and typically require a use variance.  This is also the case for this project.   It is our intent to demonstrate that the project as proposed, can satisfy the statutory criteria for the granting of the variance requested pursuant to NJSA 40:55D-70 (c) & (d) and not impair the intent or purpose of the Zoning Ordinance or Zoning Plan.  Safeguard has retained expert witnesses to present this information to the satisfaction of the Board.