Resident asks Dickinson council to grandfather long‑standing Connex storage container

Terry Ludtke, a Dickinson resident for 26 years, told the City Council his family has used a Connex storage container behind a privacy fence for about 18 years and asked the council to apply section 18.44 of the city code fairly to allow it to remain.

Ludtke described rebuilding his house after hurricanes and said the container stores personal items for a household that includes elderly relatives. “We are not asking to place a new connex on our property. We’re just asking to keep the one that we've had for almost 18 years behind our fence for our family's personal storage,” Ludtke said. He stressed the container is not visible from the street and has not created problems for neighbors.

Council approved a 30‑minute extension so Ludtke could finish his remarks. No immediate action was taken during the meeting; Ludtke asked the council to either recognize the container as an existing nonconforming use under section 18.44 or consider a reasonable exception or approval pathway for long‑standing personal storage containers.