The Abridged version:
- Elk Grove leaders are concerned about a “proliferation” of self-storage facilities, with 19 facilities currently operating in the city and three more on the horizon.
- On Wednesday, the Elk Grove City Council approved a moratorium on new self-storage facility applications.
- Demand for storage boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The four-county Sacramento region now has 393 storage facility sites, according to a real estate data firm.
This story has been updated to reflect the outcome of Wednesday’s Elk Grove City Council vote.
The city of Elk Grove pressed pause on new self-storage sites within the city.
On Wednesday evening, the Elk Grove City Council voted to approve a moratorium on new self-storage projects.
Currently, Elk Grove has 19 different self-storage companies that operate sprawling storage yards and warehouses within the city. With three more projects either entitled or under construction, residents and city staffers alike are expressing concerns about a “proliferation of personal storage facilities,” according to the city.
City staffers cited concerns that storage sites consume too much urban real estate that could be earmarked for housing or more robust job centers, a report states.
“Personal storage facilities generate negligible economic activity and create pedestrian ‘dead zones’ that disrupt pedestrian flow,” according to a city staff report.
The moratorium, which does not have a time limit, allows city leaders to study how storage facilities affect the city and fine-tune changes to city code. Those changes could restrict self-storage sites to certain areas, or cap how many companies can operate within the city.
Sacramento region has nearly 400 self-storage sites
Across the country, the number of self-storage places has steadily increased in recent years. The pandemic saw a spike in storage demand between “hasty relocations, increased home sales and makeshift offices and classrooms,” according to research from commercial real estate firm CBRE.
At the same time, an increasing number of older adults are looking to downsize and store their belongings.
This trend has trickled through the Sacramento region as well.
There are 393 self-storage facilities in the four-county Sacramento region, totaling over 29.6 million square feet of space, according to Yardi Matrix, which analyzes the self-storage market. The four-county region includes Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties.
Over the last five years, the number of self storage units in the Sacramento region has increased about 14%, according to Doug Ressler, a senior researcher with Yardi Matrix. The bulk of that increase occurred right after the pandemic, but demand appears to be on the rise again, he said.
“With six properties under construction and 16 planned today, the market is on pace to continue adding supply into 2027,” Ressler said.
Despite the number of self-storage places, few local governments have restrictions on the number of self-storage companies that can operate in their boundaries, with the exception of the city of Sacramento. In late 2018, Sacramento banned construction of new self-storage sites, gas stations and drive-thru restaurants near light rail stations.
