A request to build 200 self-storage units that was heavily opposed by residents of the Brookstone Estates condominium complex was tabled by the Merrillville Town Council this week, due to unanswered questions.
The proposal was sent to the Town Council with no recommendation from the Board of Zoning Appeals after some two dozen people expressed their opposition to the proposal.
Several of them also attended the council meeting.
Rami and Ghassan Haddadin said they own the 2.8 acres at 7525 Taft St., which front the condominium complex, and felt the best use for the property are storage units and an office for the units.
Ghassan Haddadin said they would build the units in three sizes and to the best standards and would surround the property with a fence and trees. He said they would invest about $1.3 million.
Councilman Donald Spann, D-1st, said he received a few phone calls from residents expressing safety concerns should the units are built.
Rami Haddadin said customers would use an electronic access card to get in.
Answering questions from council members, the Haddadins said the hours of operation would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and they would install whatever type fence the town wants.
Milton Peterson, who developed Brookstone Estates, reiterated three objections he raised at the BZA meeting late last month: concern over the condos’ property values, which he said are slowly rising after taking a big hit in the recession; stormwater drainage; and the fact that the developers have brought in no blueprints or renderings .
“We want to see a plan, to know what it will look like. We’d like a privacy fence there and would hope the units would be kept to one-story. We’d also like landscaping on the back side, too, which is facing the condos,” Peterson said.
Ron Sullivan, president of the homeowners association, said there are nine storage unit sites in a 4.4-mile radius of the planned site.
“We know something will go there. We would like it to be attractive,” Sullivan said.
“It sounds like there are unanswered questions and a lot of paperwork needed. I ask that this be tabled until all the questions are answered, we can see the paperwork and everyone can sit down and discuss the plans,” said Jeffrey Minchuk, D-3rd.
Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
