After three public meetings, the Eagle River Planning Commission has approved a conditional use permit (CUP) to allow Amerco Real Estate Company/U-Haul to build 52,000 square feet of storage units at 1100 N. Railroad St. during its meeting last Thursday, but stipulated a number of recommended conditions.

Commissioners voted 4-2 to advance the recommendation to the Eagle River City Council, which will have the final say on the CUP. Voting against the permit were commissioners Mary Horant and Brad Adamovich, while Adam Grassl, John Hletko, Kim Schaffer and Alex Forer voted in favor.

The units have been the topic of interest in recent months, with public hearings drawing comments opposing the structure. There also have been decision postponements due to needed information gathering.

The city had concerns about stormwater displacement, which U-Haul addressed with detailed plans provided by Vreeland Land Surveying out of Weston at the last commission meeting on the subject. Those plans were given to MSA Engineering, the city’s engineering company, to receive feedback on the plans.

MSA’s John Kromer said at Thursday’s meeting that Vreeland’s plans met code for stormwater retention, but he made a few recommendations on culverts and other minor items. He also cited concerns that in the event of a “100-year storm event,” the plans may not fully protect the area from overflow.

After Adamovich had presented concerns at the June meeting about road damage that may occur from U-Haul’s plan to remove and replace many tons of fill, MSA also provided an estimate for road repairs that would possibly be needed after the units are constructed.
MSA’s total proposed cost for repairing Bluebird Lane and Airport Road came in at about $238,000. U-Haul would be responsible for paying for any damage actually accrued during construction.

Business valuation

The postponement of the decision from the June meeting also gave business owners that felt their livelihoods would be harmed by the storage units time to gather information.

Jessica Bortolotti and her son, Vito, who own and operate Bortolotti’s Cin-Cin and have been outspokenly opposed to the project, brought forth a number of letters from realtors which stated the building of the units would likely have a negative impact on the value of the restaurant, which currently benefits from highway views.

Horant agreed that this input from realtors was a reasonable reason to not allow the CUP.
“I can justify in my mind saying that is valid; it is affecting your property value,” Horant said, referencing a letter from longtime local realtor Jim Mulleady that stated Bortolotti’s property value would drop by an estimated $25,000.

But other commissioners disagreed with the logic, saying that would mean no building would be allowed to be placed on the property because any structure erected would block the view of their restaurant from the highway.

Hletko questioned if they disallowed the CUP now, would it mean that whoever purchased the property in the future wouldn’t be able to build anything there since it would likely block the view of Cin-Cin from the highway. He also had concerns that a decision like that would impact the overall value of the land parcel in question, prohibiting future sale.

Commissioners had discussed the idea of “borrowed view” in the previous meeting, which Grassl harkened back to again.

“It was a decision by certain people to start a business two blocks off the highway,” Grassl said, adding that the argument was a “nonstarter” for him.

Schaffer said she agreed with Grassl, and added their job was to put in the proper conditions to make sure U-Haul was adhering to the plans that had been discussed throughout the series of meetings.

Hletko crafted a motion to approve the CUP and recommend it to the city council as presented with conditions, which was seconded by Schaffer.

Conditions included using the directional lighting, siding, landscaping and monumental signage for the affected businesses as they had been presented in the plans; adhering to the stormwater plans and following MSA’s recommendations; and also noted that U-Haul would be responsible for any road repairs needed. The conditions also dictated that construction crews would use Bluebird and Airport roads to Highway 45 to keep damage retained to only those roads.

The Eagle River City Council will meet Tuesday, July 14, at 6 p.m. at city hall. Although no agenda has been posted as of yet, it is likely they will make the final ruling on the CUP at that meeting.