Special Permits OKd for New Warehouses

After several months of study, the City Council has decided to seek special permits for warehouses and distribution buildings.

The council, acting in its role as the city Planning Commission, voted unanimously for the new regulation. The policy requires all applicants for warehouses and distributing facilities to get a conditional-use permit from the city.

In a memo to the council, City Manager Daniel E. Keen said the new system will “alleviate the potential problems that could result from warehousing or distribution facilities.” Traffic and noise are among the possible problems, he said.

“This [new change] gives the Development Committee and the Planning Commission the right to review each application that comes before you so that you can consider the environmental issues,” Keen said.

Many other cities require similar scrutiny of warehouses, Keen said. “I think this is a fairly standard thing in most communities,” he said.

Keen earlier this year had asked the council to declare a temporary halt, or moratorium, on warehouse-use applications in the city. Keen said city officials needed to study the issue and make a recommendation.

The council agreed.

During a public hearing on the issue Tuesday night, no one in the audience spoke for or against the proposal.

Although no mention of it was made during council discussion, a warehouse controversy caused political repercussions in the neighboring city of Cypress in 1994 and 1995.

The Cypress City Council in September 1994 approved a carpet-distribution warehouse, and residents of nearby neighborhoods protested for more than a year.

The controversy ended in an unsuccessful recall election in November of the Cypress City Council.