Approved Project Description (2019-12-03)P age 1 of 4
September 10, 2019
Mr. Paul Kermoyan, Community Development Director
Mr. Daniel Fama, Senior Planner
Planning Division
City of Campbell
70 N. First St.
Campbell, California 95008
Re: 680-700 E. McGlincy Lane Self-Storage
Dear Paul and Daniel,
Thank you for reviewing our application materials and processing our application for:
• Vesting Tentative Parcel Map with lot merger and abandonment of easements
• Rezoning from C-PD to M-1 Light Industrial
• Conditional Use Permit with Site and Architectural Review
As you know, we have been working closely with City staff in various departments to provide
supplemental materials regarding our application; and with the Santa Clara County Fire
Department. We have made numerous adjustments to our proposed project over the past 18
months, all captured in the documented plan set dated August 7, 2019. To recap some of the
major milestones since we first submitted:
May 21, 2018 Preliminary Application
July 24, 2018 Planning Commission Study Session
August 29, 2018 Meet with Director Kermoyan to review comments
from Planning Commissioners
November 28, 2018 Application
February 25, 2019 Revised Application
April 4, 2019 Neighbor and Community Meeting
May 23, 2019 Meeting with SCCFD with subsequent correspondence
August 8, 2019 Final plans responding to SCCFD comments
There are several changes from our original proposal that we want to call to your attention:
• In response to a suggestion by Chair Rich at our Planning Commission Study Session,
we have combined the two buildings into a single building; increased the setback; and
expanded the rear landscape buffer.
• We have proceeded with the suggestion to remove project from the Condominium (C-
PD zone), so our project will no longer be a part of the neighboring McGlincy
Business Park, and new business condominiums would be prohibited.
• This project now proposes to be in the city’s standard M-1 Light Industrial zone, and
to comply with the development standards of the M-1 zone, with no request for
exceptions or variances. Allowable FAR in the M-1 zone is subject to Planning
Commission discretion, and there is no parking standard for self-storage uses.
Approved Project Description (2019-12-03).pdf
P age 2 of 4
Summary of major differences from our preliminary review project:
PREVIOUSLY
July 2018 Preliminary
CURRENT
August 2019 Application
Owner: James & Beth Chalmers,
Instant Storage Solutions
Brett Henry,
Trojan Storage
Business Condominium Use: Yes, with easements and
shared parking
No. Condominium use
prohibited
General Plan Designation Light Industrial Light Industrial
Zoning Designation C-PD (Condominium
Planned Development)
M-1 Light Industrial
Lot Size (Square Feet) 91,277 91,277
Building Total Square Feet 147,000 156,457
Basement Square Feet 44,526 41,585
Square Feet for FAR Calculation 102,543 114,872
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) 1.12 1.26
Buildings 2 separate buildings 1 building
Basement Yes, full basement Yes, full basement
Number of Storage Units 1,100 1,150
Distance from Rear Property Line 53’ 65’
Building Height at rear 35’ 32’ 4”
Landscape Buffer at rear property 10’ ~ 20’ varies 30’ – 32’
Parking Spaces 7 dedicated
75 shared
49
ARCHITECTURE and SITE DESIGN
The proposed building responds to many of the comments received from both the Planning
Commissioners and the city’s architectural consultant. The two buildings were combined into
one building, which was moved further toward McGlincy and away from the existing residential
neighborhood. To accommodate requests from the Fire Department for more room for fire trucks
to maneuver in the rear of the site, the setback was increased to 65’; and the landscape buffer is a
minimum of 30’ with city-recommended species of large trees proposed. The upper level “green
screens” have been removed as recommended by the design review.
SINGLE PURPOSE BUILDING
Campbell’s General Plan discourages the development of single-purpose buildings. This is a
particularly difficult goal to attain in a Light Industrial zone. Buildings in a downtown setting
may be mixed-use and adapted for commercial, office, retail – but in a Light Industrial zone
many of the uses that contribute to “mixed-uses” are not permissible. Our project proposes to use
modular interior demising wall and door systems – enabling adaptable floor plans that can be
changed without requiring major changes to the HVAC and life safety systems. The generous
setbacks and unique “drive-through” design also mean this building will be uniquely positioned
to be adapted to other uses in the future, such as creative maker-space; or “clean and quiet” light
industrial such as artisan workshops or brewery/winery. Maintaining a floor height clearance at
+/- 11’ is also essential for ensuring the building has potential for re-use, although we have
strived to keep the building height as low as possible.
Approved Project Description (2019-12-03).pdf
P age 3 of 4
ELIMINATING CONDOMINIUM USES
Trojan Storage now owns the property and is recording a new set of Conditions, Covenants, &
Restrictions (CC&Rs) that separate it completely from the McGlincy Business Center. Other
than typical shared easements (such as fire hydrant and water lines), there are no shared costs
or obligations between the McGlincy Business Center and the Trojan property. This has been
done in consultation with Campbell’s City Attorney and Community Development Director,
to ensure that the resulting parcel and zoning complies with the city’s General Plan and its
ordinances regulating parcel maps. Since the site is not proposed to be condominiums, we are
requesting that the property be rezoned to M-1 (Light Industrial) – to match every other parcel
on E. McGlincy, and return the project site to a standard zoning which prohibits condominium
subdivision completely. Our project would be a single corporate owner with no subdivision or
condominiums allowed, and would comply with every objective standard of the M-1 Zoning
Category such as building height and setback.
SAFETY & SECURITY
Trojan’s Self-Storage facilities always have a professional full-time manager who lives on the
property and ensures the highest level of safety and security, including CCTV, monitoring
cameras and electronic door monitoring. No vehicles are allowed on the property after hours, and
the auto security gates are always locked until a valid security code is entered. This was
important to the residents who attended our Community Meeting in April, and we agree.
Our leases strictly prohibit storage or use of any materials in the storage space or on the facility
classified as hazardous or toxic under any law, ordinance or regulation, or from engaging in any
activity which produces such materials. We include language prohibiting storage of hazardous
materials in every lease, review it with every customer, and post this visibly throughout the
property. We include an example lease, with this section highlighted, along with this letter.
FLOOR AREA RATIO
The General Development Standards for M-1 Light Industrial District (CMC Sec. 21.10.080)
state:
“The planning commission shall have the authority to increase the F.A.R. for a
specific use at a specific location when it determines that circumstances warrant
an adjustment.”
Self-storage uses are a uniquely low-impact use within light industrial zones, because of their
minimal impact on surrounding road infrastructure, fire/police/emergency services, water and
sewer usage, etc.; and because Self-storage uses do not create typical “industrial” effects for
neighbors such as noise and air pollution, dust generation, exhaust, fueling stations, and back-up
generators. In addition, auto trip generation is very low for self-storage given the low number of
employees and daily automobile trips. Below is a comparison of building size and auto trips
generated by allowed uses in a Light Industrial zone, compared to our proposal:
LAND USE TRIPS PER 1,000
SQUARE FEET BUILDING AREA FAR TOTAL DAILY
TRIPS
MINI WAREHOUSE,
SELF STORAGE
2.5 122,000
(net storage area)
1.26 305
MANUFACTURING 38.9 36,000 0.4 1,400
INDUSTRIAL
PARK
61.1 36,000 0.4 2,202
Approved Project Description (2019-12-03).pdf
P age 4 of 4
(Source: ITE 9th Edition Trip Generation Manual)
We note that Campbell has two self-storage facilities which have FAR higher than 1.26:
Project Name CITY ADDRESS BUILDING
SF LOT SIZE F.A.R.
1 Extra Space
Storage Campbell 187 E Sunnyoaks Ave. 56,000 sf 34,848 sf 1.61
2 Extra Space
Storage Campbell 150 Curtner Ave. 94,246 sf 71,438 sf 1.32
In addition, below are examples of other nearby self-storage projects and their respective FARs:
Project Name CITY ADDRESS BUILDING
SF LOT SIZE F.A.R.
1 Trojan
Storage San Jose 2829 Monterey Road 153,421 sf 111,949 sf 1.37
2 Trojan
Storage San Jose 1025 Knox Avenue 138,836 sf 67,518 sf 2.00
3 Public
Storage Santa Clara 3033 Lafayette St 177,750 sf 125,017 sf 1.42
4 A-1
Self Storage San Jose 3260 S Bascom Ave 125,559 sf 87,120 sf 1.44
5 West Coast
Self-Storage San Jose 421 Lincoln Ave 58,681 sf 41,897 sf 1.40
We look forward to proceeding to the SARC and Planning Commission with this conforming
project that will redevelop a now-vacant piece of property with a legal, allowable use that meets
all of the City’s objective standards and code requirements.
Sincerely,
Kelly Snider
for Trojan Storage
cc: Brett Henry, Trojan Storage
Maggie Xu, Trojan Storage
Approved Project Description (2019-12-03).pdf