Council approves conditional-use permit for shipping containers with 36-month removal requirement

The Show Low City Council voted 4–3 to amend and approve Conditional Use Permit 60204281, allowing shipping containers on three commercial parcels with conditions including uniform color, no rental use and a requirement that the existing eight containers be removed within 36 months.

The decision followed a staff presentation that described how the containers were placed in a downtown commercial zone and reviewed applicable local rules, including ordinance 2003-03 and city code section 19.25.060H2, which requires minimum setbacks, screening and a CUP for containers in commercial districts. Planning staff said the containers currently sit well beyond the 100-foot right-of-way setback required by code but that visual screening had been a primary concern for the commission.

"They're not permanent. I do plan on moving them," David Owens, the applicant and property owner, told the council when asked about long-term plans for the containers. Owens said the containers belong to a family member and that he has already removed a semi-trailer since the Planning and Zoning meeting.

Council members debated competing goals: neighbors and park planners sought a continuous privacy barrier to screen containers from a new adjacent park and restroom site, while Owens and family members argued for property‑rights deference and a reasonable timetable to clear inherited materials. "If we are living in precarious times, it's behooved of us to protect our most sacred resources which are our children," Councilman Clark said while urging careful stewardship of public spaces near the park (context: park visibility and neighborhood character were central to the discussion).

Under the council amendment, conditions retained staff's baseline requirements (compliance with federal, state and local law, uniform color on all four sides, and prohibition on public rental/storage) and replaced several of the commission's added conditions with a removal/sunset timeline: the eight containers present at the time of approval must be removed within 36 months, and staff will bring the matter back to the Planning and Zoning Commission or council for review at that time. The council's action removed the commission's separate fencing requirement as part of the compromise, while keeping the non-rental condition.

The council recorded the vote as 4 in favor and 3 opposed; the decision is final and effective immediately. Staff noted the original commission decision had included a seven-day appeal period for the Planning and Zoning decision; that procedural window had expired before the council acted.

The council directed staff to track compliance with the removal timeline and to return the matter for review at the end of the 36-month period. The appeal was filed by the applicant, who had requested modification of the fencing requirement and sought to preserve the permit's transferability within the family trust structure.