The Mathews County Planning Commission, meeting on Tuesday night, voted unanimously to recommend that supervisors approve an application for a conditional use permit for a self-storage facility at Cobbs Creek.
The project is proposed by applicant ProSafe Acquisition LLC and property owner OT Ventures LLC for a 9.7-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Dollar General Market on Twiggs Ferry Road.
If approved, the facility would be developed in phases, starting with two storage buildings totaling 35,000 square feet and containing approximately 225 storage units that would be mostly temperature-controlled, along with a stormwater Best Management Practices strategy. Depending on market demand, future phases could add up to two more storage buildings for a total of 79,900 square feet and/or a fenced-in boat/RV/vehicle storage area and shop units for small business use.
The property would be fenced in with eight-foot-tall black vinyl-coated chain link and would have cameras, downward-directed lighting, and a gated entry accessed via individual PIN codes. There would be an on-site manager and assistant manager, with hours from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. It would share the entrance to Dollar General Market.
The nine-acre parcel is currently part of a 23-acre parcel that extends to Buckley Hall Road adjacent to the FasMart. One of the conditions that the planning commission placed on the project is that the 9.7-acre parcel be separated from the remaining acreage and contain screening and buffering elements such as trees and other vegetation.
ProSafe Acquisition LLC co-founder and owner Mike Hanky said that the parcel remaining after the storage facility is built would be for future development. There would be a buffer of evergreens on relevant parts of the property.
Hanky said his company develops and operates self-storage units exclusively in “a couple of states” and has placed such units in Richmond and Kilmarnock. He said many of the storage units he’s seen in Mathews are older, not climate-controlled, and not managed on-site, while customers are increasingly demanding temperature-controlled units and higher levels of service, such as on-line rental and bill payment and the ability to talk with a live person.
If the project is approved, said Hanky, construction would be expected to start in 60 days or less and take up to nine months.
The board of supervisors is expected to consider setting a date for its own public hearing on the matter during its meeting to be held at 6 o’clock this evening in the historic courthouse on Court Street.