2021.0325.PR0009 Stor-House Yelm project description 06-15-2021Project Description - 1 - 6/15/2021
The Stor-House - Yelm
Project Description
The Stor-House Self Storage -- Yelm, Washington
• Project Name: The Stor-House Self Storage - Yelm
Project Size: The total site area proposed to be impacted to construct the
proposed building is approximately 65,000 square feet of site
area.
Location of Site: The project is located on the east side of Creek Street SE, north
of the intersection with E Yelm Avenue; 10508 Creek St SE, in
the City of Yelm, WA. The project is situated on Units 1 and 2
and Tracts A and B of Creek Road Binding Site Plan recorded
under Thurston County Recording Number 4543027. The total
area of Units 1 and 2 and Tracts A and B is 68,120 square feet,
or 1.56 acres.
• Current zoning: Heavy Commercial (C-2)
Surrounding zoning: North: Heavy Commercial (C-2), commercial buildings and
lumber yard
South: Heavy Commercial (C-2), commercial buildings and
tractor dealer
East: Heavy Commercial (C-2), residential apartment homes
West: Commercial (C-1), strip retail buildings and USPS Office
• Current use: Unit 3 of the Creek Road Binding Site Plan is developed with
residential apartment homes. Tract B provides access to all unit
lots to Creek Street SE. Units 1 and 2 and Tract A of the Binding
Site Plan are developed as a parking lot and two commercial
building pads, as well as some utilities to serve the two building
pads. No structures exist on Units 1 and 2. The parking lot
improvements and some of the landscaping will be removed to
make way for the proposed structure.
• Project history: The property owner sought and received approval from the City
to construct 164 multi-family residential units and two
commercial pads on 11.04 acres as part of the Creek Road
Mixed Use project (City File No. 20070404). The apartments and
associated improvements, including utility extensions, storm
water facilities, roadways, parking lots, etc. were all
constructed, but the commercial pads that separate the
apartments from Creek Street SE remained vacant.
• Soil type and Drainage: The site is underlain by medium dense well-graded gravel,
poorly graded gravel, and poorly graded sand (USCS: GW, GP,
and SP, respectively). Fill was encountered at all test pit
locations extending to depths of about two to three-and-one
half feet below the existing ground surface. The fill was
characterized as silty gravel, consistent with reworked native
soil.
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The Stor-House - Yelm
The original in-situ soils are well draining, with an average
infiltration rate of 5 inches/hour after a factor of safety is
applied. An infiltration stormwater detention vault was
installed with the original phase of construction. It was sized
appropriately to serve the entire site.
• Proposed property use: The development proposal will remove the existing
improvements and replace them with a new, three-story,
84,945 square-foot self-storage building, plus associated drive
aisles, parking, and utilities to serve the new building.
The proposed new building will be situated over 500 feet from
Yelm Avenue to the south, and will have a 15-foot setback from
Creek Street SE. Its major exposure will be to Creek Street SE
and the businesses to the north and south, both of which are
also zoned Heavy Commercial (C-2). The proposed building is
oriented with the storage doors on the east building elevation –
no roll-up storage doors will be visible from Creek Street SE and
all storage activity will take place along the internal drive aisle.
The 35’ internal drive aisle and a 6-7’ tall CMU fence will serve
as a buffer between the proposed building and the Tustin
Apartments to the east. Noise impacts to the neighboring
apartments will be minimal. Facility operating hours will be
from 9am to 6pm daily, and site access will be restricted to the
hours of 5am to 10pm. Storage units are intended for passive
use only – active use of storage units is highly discouraged.
The building façade will feature alternating colors and materials,
including a parapet roof line topped with a cornice and
featuring transitions in height (elevations are included on sheet
A3.0, submitted herewith). All perimeter fencing will be
constructed from CMU or wrought iron – no chain link fencing
will be used. Approximate proposed building height is 40 feet.
The proposed development will provide add 24 new parking
stalls: 8 near the retail/leasing office, 5 in the loading bay, and
11 near the exit gate.
Past construction phases included the addition of two points of
ingress and egress to and from the site via Creek Street SE.
Primary access to the site will take place from the northerly
entrance – the southerly entrance is intended only for traffic
exiting the proposed development.
• Utilities & improvements: Utilities, including sewer, water, electricity, gas and
telecommunications, were extended to the site during earlier
phases of construction. No further off-site improvements are
proposed, but some of the existing utility extensions and access
Project Description - 3 - 6/15/2021
The Stor-House - Yelm
roads may need to be moved or altered to accommodate the
proposed development.
• Proposed ownership: The proposed development – including building, parking areas
and drive aisles, will occupy one large parcel. Existing Unit Lots 1
and 2 and Tract A will be combined to form this parcel.
Ownership of this parcel will be transferred from the property
owner to the applicant following the approval and recording of
a yet-to-be-submitted binding site plan amendment. Tract B will
remain but the boundaries will be adjusted to incorporate the
proposed 8 parking stalls adjacent to the southerly site access.
Both applicant and owner will have an ownership interest in
Tract B, which both parties will use for pedestrian and vehicular
access.
• Number of employees: The proposed self-storage building will employ 2 full time
employees.
• Proposed timing: Construction will begin in Winter 2021, pending issuance of the
necessary permits from the City.
• Signage: A new monument sign will be proposed near the northerly site
access. Another building-mounted sign or signs will be placed
near the north and south towers. Separate applications for
signage will be submitted prior to construction completion.
• Traffic analysis: No traffic analysis has been prepared in connection with this
application. Still, self-storage is one of the lowest traffic
generators and has less traffic than typical retail, office,
businesses and even a residential subdivision. According to
previous traffic studies the applicant has conducted at other
locations, similar-size storage facilities generate as few as 10-15
PM peak hour trips.
• Landscape, Lot Coverage and Parking Analysis (Current proposal only):
o Total Site Area: The total site area to be redeveloped under the current
proposal is approximately 65,000 square feet.
o Proposed Bldg Area: The total proposed gross floor area of the new building
is 84,945 square feet. The footprint occupies 29,463
square feet.
o Sq Ft of Ex Bldgs: There are no structures on the site. Existing
improvements include underground utilities, parking
lot, landscaping, and two commercial building pads.
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The Stor-House - Yelm
o % Lot Coverage: The project will not add any new impervious surface
area to the site. The project proposes to replace
approximately 67,934 square feet of existing asphalt
and planned roof areas with new replaced impervious
surface area (see table below).
o Parking: The project would eliminate the existing parking lot
improvements and 71 parking spaces to make way for
the new structure, but would add 24 new parking stalls:
8 near the retail/leasing office, 5 in the loading bay, and
11 near the exit gate. Parking for the entire project will
meet City requirements for retail (1 stall per 250 square
feet of gross floor area) and general industrial use (1
space per employee based on the greatest number of
employees on a single shift, plus one for each vehicle
owned or operated by the company).
o Landscaping: Some of the existing landscaping will be removed to
accommodate the proposed new improvements. Once
construction is complete, new plantings will be added
to restore landscape buffers around the site. Currently,
Approximately 20% of the existing property is
landscaped (see table above). The proposed
development would change the landscape coverage to
approximately 17%.
• Covenants: The existing covenants and easements that encumber the Creek
Road Binding Site Plan lots will need to be amended to reflect
the new ownership entities, plus the updated locations and uses
of the utilities and access roads that serve the site.