Fairview City Council is drafting legislation to regulate the use of portable on-demand storage units, or PODS, such as this one.

Council fights PODS invasion
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published Nov. 1, 2006

After receiving complaints in recent months from residents complaining about large, unsightly portable storage units in the driveways of neighbors, City Council is about to take action.

After researching the issue for several months, council began the task of drafting an ordinance which would require residents to obtain a permit to place such a storage unit on their property. The ordinance would also limit the length of time such a unit could be left on any city property.

The most popular company currently offering these storage units is PODS, short for portable on-demand storage. According to the company’s Web site, PODS changed the storage and moving industry by delivering the storage units to the customer. The storage units come in two sizes — 8 x 8 x 12 feet and 8 x 8 x16 feet. After the unit is filled, the company trucks it away.

Ward 2 Councilman Bill Minek, who received complaints about a storage unit left on West 211th Street for nearly a year, argued at a council committee meeting Oct. 23 that residents should have to justify the use of such a POD every 30 days.

But Ward 4 Councilman Bill Westfall said council should take into consideration legitimate, necessary reasons residents might have to use PODS, such as a fire or severe flooding.

“Let’s not punish our residents for trying to improve their homes or if they have a disaster,” Westfall said.

Minek also wanted the legislation to require, when possible, that PODS be placed alongside or behind homes which do not have attached garages.

Ward 3 Councilman Fred Gauthier told West Life the current draft of the ordinance would require a resident to pay a $10 fee for a 30-day permit to bring a storage unit on one’s property. The 30-day permit could be renewed three times.

“Which means (the storage unit) could be there potentially for four months,” Gauthier said. The ordinance will include language which would take into account unusual circumstances, such as a major house fire, Gauthier added.

The ordinance as currently written would also permit a resident to have only one storage unit on his property at a time.

“These things are not to replace or be used as dumpsters,” Gauthier said.

Gauthier said he expected council to place the ordinance on first reading at its Nov. 20 meeting. Ordinances ordinarily must have three readings before council holds a vote on passage. Gauthier encouraged anyone with questions or concerns on the issue to attend the council committee meeting on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.

The city’s law and building departments will review the draft ordinance before council takes action, Gauthier said.

Council examined ordinances from cities in Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey which have regulated the use of storage units. Last month, the city council of Omaha, Neb. voted to limit the use of the storage units to once or twice a year for up to 30 days.