Milton review committee recommends DEStorage annexation

In a tidy 20 minutes, Milton’s Special Review Committee agreed to recommend annexing a half-acre portion of a seven-acre Route 16 parcel that is planned for a DEStorage self-storage facility.

DEStorage was forced to come before the committee because of what it called an enclave, part of the property adjacent to Palmer Street Extended that is not within town limits. The rest of the parcel is already part of Milton and is zoned C-1 commercial. 

Town Manager Kristy Rogers said the enclave was the site of a home that was demolished several years ago. She said she did not know why the property was never annexed, but the owner had kept it as open space. 

Discussion by the three-member committee, which includes planning and zoning Chairman Richard Trask, Councilman Fred Harvey and Councilwoman Lee Revis-Plank, was brief, as all agreed it was in the town’s interest to have the parcel within its borders. Because the portion of the parcel is so small, Rogers did not have the annexation undergo a cost-benefit analysis or be reviewed by outside consultants, as has been done for larger annexations. 

From here, the annexation will head to the planning and zoning commission for an advisory report, then to the town council for approval. DEStorage was already granted a special permitted use by planning and zoning to have a storage facility on the parcel.

The facility would comprise two 40,000-square-foot and two 20,000-square-foot buildings. The larger two-story buildings would front Route 16, while the other two buildings, one story each, would be built on the back side of the property. Also planned are an office building, a gated entrance and stormwater retention ponds on the front and back of the property.