Durango City Council approved a preliminary plan for a new three-story U-Haul self-storage facility and store earlier this month near the Grandview Interchange in eastern Durango.
The development is planned for 59 Copper Court below a Starbucks atop a hillside.
The property is part of a South Fork Character District master plan and conceptual development plan, said Jayme Lopko, Community Development Department director, at the City Council meeting Jan. 6.
The plan calls for a three-story, 108,174-square-foot building. In reviewing the plan, city staff considered access, traffic circulation and parking, in addition to utilities and drainage, dark sky lighting compliance and landscaping, she said.
She said self-storage facilities have minimal impacts to roads in terms of traffic. Staff considered building materials, coloration and architecture.
The U-Haul building will feature more muted colors than the company’s typical orange brand, ensuring it fits into the area’s aesthetic character, she said.
She said staff recommended approval of the plan with additional conditions that: No. 1, roll-up doors on the building’s exterior must be colored white ‒ not U-Haul’s typical orange ‒ and No. 2, to ensure indoor lights are compliant with dark sky requirements in addition to exterior lighting.
Councilors approved the preliminary plan 4-1. Councilor Kip Koso opposed the project, citing staff member concerns in a report about the view of the site from the Grandview Interchange and from the SMART 160 Trail corridor.
“We’ve got this massive building in a highly visible area, and I get the benefit to U-Haul for that,” he said. “I think you’ve done great work in regard to modifying the building colors and we’ll see what the signage does.”
But it needs to be considered that U-Haul trucks and trailers sporting U-Haul’s traditional orange and black branding will be parked in the building’s parking lot, he said.
Josh Dirksen, representing U-Haul, said the building’s shunting area designated for pickups and drop-offs is stationed away from the front of the building where public parking will be located.
He said the city required U-Haul to include considerable landscaping and trees in its plan that aren’t necessarily accurately represented in site renderings.
“The original plan was to have an additional building in this parking lot ‒ a U-Box warehouse. When we went back to the drawing board, we made the main building a little bit bigger, we removed the U-Box warehouse,” he said. “The city had us add that landscaping island there to shield the shunting area from the road.”
He said the site sits low to the road relative to Wilson Gulch Road directly to the north. The Starbucks sits atop a hill to the east and would sit above the proposed U-Haul building’s top.
“A majority of our landscaping is in the front of the building to shield from the highway and the road,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
