Self-storage competition heats up in Elmsford

A recently-opened Elmsford self-storage business is suing the village and a potential competitor for allegedly violating a moratorium on new storage facilities.

InSite Property Group, of Redondo Beach, California, held the grand opening for a SecureSpace Self Storage at 33 West Main St. on May 23.

Two weeks later, the Elmsford board of trustees enacted a temporary moratorium on new self-storage facilities. A month later, the trustees approved a site plan submitted by Elmsford Real Estate Holdings, of Poughkeepsie, for a storage facility at 15-19 West Main St.

The village violated its own moratorium, InSite argues in a petition filed Aug. 10 in Westchester Supreme Court, and therefore the site plan approval must be annulled.

The proposed facility would be the third of its kind in the immediate vicinity, where Saw Mill River Parkway intersects with the I-287 Cross Westchester Expressway. Safeguard Self Storage is almost across the street from the proposed structure, and the new SecureSpace building is a block away.

The Elmsford Self Storage site plan calls for demolishing Julio’s Brushless Carwash and a Motel 6 operated by Vishal and Bhavesh Patel’s River Links Hotels, of Fishkill.

In their place, a 5-story, 118,782-square-foot structure and 1-story, 3,900-square-foot accessory building would be erected on the 1.05 acre site.

The moratorium was formally proposed on May 15 and enacted on June 5.

Bhavesh Patel submitted the site plan application on Dec. 5 and the village trustees adopted it on July 10.

Elmsford had no self-storage facilities when its Comprehensive Plan was approved in 1995, according to the moratorium, and it has no self-storage regulations. Since then, three facilities have been approved and several more are contemplated.

The moratorium states that proliferation of storage facilities could have a deleterious effect on other businesses and could possibly effect nearby property values.

The moratorium was envisioned as a temporary measure to allow time for the village to consider new zoning and ways to regulate the businesses.

InSite argues that the moratorium did not exempt pending proposals, and it notes that Elmsford Self Storage did not ask for relief, as allowed for by the moratorium.

InSite also claims that the village erred by failing to complete an environmental assessment form and by deciding that the proposed structures would have no significant adverse impact on the environment, under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

“Elmsford has no comment at this time on the petition,” Village Administrator Michael C. Mills said in an email response to a request for comment. Bhavesh Patel did not reply to a request for comment.

InSite is represented by Manhattan attorneys Adam Stolorow and Kayle McGrath.