A storage facility near the Creekside community off Taylor Road in Punta Gorda will be constructed if the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners approves the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Board.
The applicant, Scenic View V LLC, received zoning approval last week for two adjoining parcels of land, and now the petition goes before the Board of Commissioners on April 23.
Jie Shao, principal planner for the county, said the 10.33-acre site is at 5221 and 5225 Taylor Road.
The developer plans to build a 145,000-square-foot storage facility containing 11 buildings of heights not to exceed 35 feet. Under the former zoning code heights of 38 feet would be allowed.
There also will be recreational vehicle storage, as 68,000 square feet is dedicated to that purpose.
Derek Rooney, an attorney with GrayRobinson Law Firm, represented the applicant.
“Buffers go beyond the code,” he told the board, explaining that a solid wall will go around the facility and trees will be planted outside the wall area.
Since the property lies south and southwest of county-owned Indian Springs Cemetery and the privately-owned Memorial Gardens cemetery, a condition of approval is that the facility would not have a negative impact on any archaeological resources, Shao said.
Indian Springs Cemetery, also known as Pineapple River Cemetery, is the county’s second oldest cemetery, going back to 1886 when former city councilman James Sandlin donated the land for a public cemetery.
He and friend Albert Gilchrist, a Punta Gorda founder and the state’s 20th governor, recorded the first plat of the cemetery. Both are buried there along with nearly 50 of the county’s first settlers and 360 known veterans.
Property owners within 1,000 feet of the planned development were informed, including some residents of Creekside living on the northwest portion of the development, which lies across Taylor Road from where Scenic View V is proposed.
During the public portion of the hearing, no members of the public spoke about the project.
If approved by commissioners, this latest storage facility joins others along Taylor Road and throughout the county.
There are several places on Taylor Road that store recreational vehicles. Due to deed restrictions, residents in many communities are not allowed to keep their RVs or campers on their property.
