Project types
Self-storage.
Storage is a land game. Drive aisles and roofs cover most of the site, so the rules on how much of the land you can cover usually decide how many units fit.
Why it gets complicated
Where the time and money go.
Self-storage puts a lot of roof and pavement on the ground. Where a watershed or water quality rule caps impervious cover, the cap can set the unit count before anything else does.
All that cover makes runoff, so detention and water quality ponds take land too. A pond in the wrong corner can cost a building.
Inside cities, storage is often limited to certain zoning districts or allowed only with a public hearing. Design standards for facades and screening can apply along major roads.
Expansions have their own traps. An older facility may have been built under rules that no longer apply, and adding buildings can bring the whole site up to current standards.
What we look at first
Deal-killers first, in order.
The checks most likely to change the plan for this type of project. Each links to a plain-English guide.
Impervious cover
Any watershed, aquifer or county cap, and how it is measured.
Impervious cover guideDrainage and detention
How much runoff control the site needs, and how much land it takes.
Drainage guideSetbacks and buffers
Building lines, creek buffers and easements that shrink the footprint.
Setbacks guideFloodplain
Which parts of the site are mapped, by which map, and what that allows.
Floodplain guideDeed restrictions
Private restrictions that limit storage uses or building materials.
Title guideVesting, for expansions
Which rules the existing facility was built under, and what an expansion triggers.
Vesting guideBefore you close
Questions to ask early.
Cheap to ask before closing. Expensive to learn after.
- Is there an impervious cover limit, and what does it count: gravel, ponds, roofs?
- Is storage allowed by right in the zoning district, or does it need a hearing?
- How much of the site will detention and water quality take?
- Do any deed restrictions limit storage, outdoor parking or building type?
- For an expansion: which rules did the existing facility vest under, and what does adding buildings trigger?
- Do facade, screening or landscape standards apply along the frontage?
Typical patterns
Common situations, and what they usually mean.
Patterns, not rules. Every report checks the actual parcel, its jurisdiction and its utilities.
| Situation | What often happens | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Site in a protected watershed | Cover cap sets the unit count | Watershed class, cap, how cover is measured |
| Flat site with poor outfall | Detention takes more land than planned | Drainage rules, outfall, pond size range |
| Inside a city, commercial zoning | Storage needs a hearing or a different district | Use tables, overlays, hearing path |
| Expanding an older facility | New buildings pull the site into current rules | Vesting history, triggers, nonconformities |
| RV and boat storage | Outdoor storage limits and screening apply | Use rules, screening, surface type |
Keep reading
Waitlist open · Starting in Central Texas
Check your next storage site.
Send us the parcel and a rough unit count. We start with the rules that decide how many fit.