45 Jefferson Avenue Submission Letter 241030
501 Broadway, Suite 202, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742 ᆞ732-934-2301
www.whitneydevelopment.com
Whitney Development LLC
www.whitneydevelopment.com
501 Broadway, Suite 202
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
T: 732-934-2301
October 30, 2024
Daniel Laroe, Staff Planner
Department of Planning and Community Development
98 Washington Street
Salem, MA 01970
RE: Salem Self Storage – Resubmission Narrative
45 Jefferson Avenue
Salem, MA
To Whom It May Concern:
Based on our team’s last meeting with the Salem Zoning Board of Appeals, we have gone back to
the drawing board and completed a significant redesign to the above-mentioned project to reduce the
variances requested. A list of the changes can be found below:
1. We lowered the height from the original 59 feet to 45 feet which brings the height into
conformance with the zoning ordinance.
2. To maintain the required square footage for the project to remain financially feasible, we
widened the building out which creates a variance request at the western property line.
The current variance request is a side yard buffer where 30 feet is required, 5 feet is
proposed on the western side of the project, and 28 feet is proposed on the eastern
property line.
a. Something to note is that the abutting property on the west side has a 20-foot
easement running along the property line which would be required to remain
undeveloped. This creates a “buffer” of about 25 total feet.
b. Due to the irregular shape and narrow width of the site, it would be nearly
impossible to find a use which would not require, at minimum, a side yard set
back variance.
c. The property has existing buildings onsite which currently do not conform to the
setback requirements in the zone
3. Due to widening the building, this has triggered an increase from our original plan,
which showed a 49.9% building coverage ratio to 50.8% (a 0.9% increase) where 45% is
required. We believe this 5.8% increase in building coverage is a de minimis request
considering the approved uses for this site and the existing site constraints.
4. To bring the building back into conformance with height, we have re-designed the drive
lanes around the building. The previous plan had full circulation around the site, with
loading in the front of the property and the rear. In this new design we have decreased
the overall amount of impervious onsite and created a pull under loading zone. This will
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take all storage loading into an area shielded from the view of the public, which in our
opinion will create a better streetscape. Furthermore, this will create more area for
green space onsite where the site as it sits currently has almost none.
5. The new site plan submitted now has a reduced number of curb cuts, which shall
consolidate all ingress/egress traffic into one spot. While the traffic loads from the self-
storage facility are very low, this will decrease the amount of construction taking place in
the right of way.
When developing narrow “shot gun” sites, it is nearly impossible to create a feasible design which
does not trigger some version of a set back variance. After further analysis of the site and hearing the
feedback from the zoning board, the project team believes the above-mentioned variance requests are
appropriate for this site.
Thank you,
Daniel Whitney
Daniel Whitney, Managing Partner