{"id":9987,"date":"2025-09-16T15:28:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T15:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/?p=9987"},"modified":"2025-09-24T15:29:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T15:29:56","slug":"novato-planning-commission-approves-self-storage-project-in-novato-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/novato-planning-commission-approves-self-storage-project-in-novato-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Novato Planning Commission Approves Self-Storage Project in Novato, California"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Property owned by Frontier Communications on Davidson Street in Novato, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. The city bought the property in 2022. (Alan Dep\/Marin Independent Journal)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

The Novato Planning Commission has approved a new self-storage complex, despite neighborhood opposition.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The decision on Sept. 8 was unanimous. City staff determined the project is exempt from additional state environmental review. The project does not require City Council approval.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed 95,400-square-foot, three-building complex at 501 Davidson St. was opposed by residents in the area, which includes Slade Park. Residents expressed concerns about the buildings\u2019 size, increased traffic, equipment noise and light pollution.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m seeing is a fairly benign use out there,\u201d said Peter Tiernan, a planning commissioner. \u201cI think there\u2019s been a number of modifications. I think there\u2019s been an attempt to address the issues that have been brought up and I give them credit for that.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The plan features 597 storage lockers, an office, drive aisles, parking, landscaping and a 6,600-square-foot bioretention area to reduce stormwater runoff.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The 3.2-acre site was previously owned by Frontier Telecommunications. The city purchased it for $5.8 million in 2022. The city leases a 1.7-acre parcel to the applicant, Vero West, according to a staff report.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a low-intensity use, in high demand, and an appropriate fit for the industrial-zone property,\u201d said Mario Ghilotti, founder and a managing partner of Vero West.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An office building and two warehouses would be demolished to build the complex, city planner Brett Walker said. The project plans include two, one-story buildings ranging from more than 4,800 square feet to more 8,400 square feet \u2014 one with 1,200 square feet of office space \u2014 and one two- and three- story building of 82,100 square feet.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A traffic study determined the project could generate 54 vehicle visits per day. The access hours are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The project will require dark-sky compliant lighting, according to the staff report.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The multistory building exceeds the city\u2019s height allowance of 35 feet in the light industrial-office zone by around 2 feet for two safety walls on the roof. It plans for seven parking spaces, instead of the 65 spaces required by city code.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI must continue to object to the size and scale of the project,\u201d resident Hilary Peters said. \u201cIt\u2019s simply too large, especially building C, which will be easily seen from our neighborhood.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my front door I look out at this building,\u201d resident Loretta DeGreef said. \u201cWhat\u2019s going to be the value of the property when the city gets it back in 30 years?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Commissioner Bill Crockett noted there was likely a lot of traffic when Frontier Telecommunications was operating. He said the stormwater retention basin was a \u201cnet improvement\u201d to the site.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably generating the least traffic,\u201d Crockett said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have any windows so in terms of light pollution, etc. I think good measures have been done.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Resident Eileen Vollowitz said the area lacks sidewalks, and many residents use Davidson Street to walk. She said the increase in traffic creates a dangerous situation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce there\u2019s two-way traffic there\u2019s no space for people, and I\u2019m concerned mostly about that,\u201d Vollowitz said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really a reckless, dangerous project,\u201d resident Paula Neese said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Novato Planning Commission has approved a new self-storage complex, despite neighborhood opposition. The decision on Sept. 8 was unanimous. City staff determined the project is exempt from additional state environmental review. The project does not require City Council approval. The proposed 95,400-square-foot, three-building complex at 501 Davidson St. was opposed by residents in the area, which includes Slade Park. Residents expressed concerns about the buildings\u2019 size, increased traffic, equipment noise and light pollution. \u201cWhat I\u2019m seeing is a fairly benign use out there,\u201d said Peter Tiernan, a planning commissioner.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":9988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,56],"tags":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9987"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9989,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9987\/revisions\/9989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}