Commission approves Plan D Units office and storage relocation amid parking, container and safety discussion

The Village of South Russell Planning Commission on Sept. 11 approved a request from Washington Center Limited tenants to allow Plan D Units, operated by Larry Lang, to relocate its office and interior storage to an existing 5,841-square-foot area at 530 East Washington Street (PC2509).

The application prompted extended public comment and a technical presentation about loading, parking and container staging at the shared industrial/mixed-use property. Property representatives said they restriped the rear lot to create 18 parking spaces, widened internal drive aisles (noting a 27-foot-wide area beneath a garage door and a 20-foot driveway) and installed corner cutbacks to reduce blind corners. A presenter described the restriping work: "there's actually 18 spaces, and we have extra wide drive lines... a 27 foot wide area underneath the garage door and also a 20 foot driveway, with hatch outs on the corners to avoid people cutting corners too quickly."

Neighbors and tenants said stacks of portable containers ("pods") and occasional semitrailers can create short-term congestion accessing a gated fence and loading area. Reset Lounge owner Elizabeth Johnson and other nearby business representatives said semitrailers sometimes blocked the driveway, restricting access to the rear lot. One neighbor asked whether truck staging could be limited or offset to avoid obstructing customer access to businesses that front the lot.

Applicant Larry Lang and his team described operations and safety measures in detail. Lang said forklifts and a remote-controlled low-speed mover are used for indoor container movements; forklifts are certified to OSHA standards and the business pays for regular refresher training. Lang said: "Our forklift drivers are required by OSHA to be certified every 3 years. We recertify them annually... We pay for 24/7 video security" and noted the operation maintains incident reports and video records of activity.

Commissioners and staff discussed whether moving the office and storage closer to the rear entrance would materially increase truck movements in front of customer entrances. The applicant said much of the activity would remain consistent with past operations and that moving containers inside would reduce some truck movements required when containers were loaded and unloaded inside the building. The applicant added that container deliveries are constrained by supply and that growth in container volume is currently limited.

The commission moved to approve the relocation of Plan D Units to the 5,841-square-foot space. The vote was unanimous among members present. Commissioners asked applicants to continue coordinating with Reset Lounge and other tenants to minimize disruption, to confirm striping and aisle dimensions in coordination with staff, and to notify planning staff if on-site operations differ from the representations made at the hearing.

The approval covers interior relocation and does not authorize new exterior modifications, additional container yards, or changes to site access; those actions would require separate review.