Industrial Office and Warehouse Approved Off Kenneth Dooley Drive

The Middletown Planning and Zoning Commission has approved the site plan for a new industrial office and warehouse on Kenneth Dooley Drive.

This latest plan for the 39-acre parcel calls for the construction of a 7,000-square-foot one- or two-story industrial office which will serve as Mod Space — a modular storage company’s — Northeast regional offices.

In addition, the new site plan makes room for the construction of a second 2,000-square-foot building where maintenance would be performed on the modular units when they are returned by customers.

Approximately 20 acres of the property would be used for the storage of the modular units themselves, up to 1,000 modular units in total, though the owners of the property estimate they will only have anywhere between 200 to 500 units stored at the site at one time.

As part of their business plan, Mod Space provides modular storage units for construction sites, schools and other uses which can be used for storage or even offices.

The site plan review is the third time that a proposal for the property has been brought before Middletown’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Previous proposals for the property called for much more significant construction and different uses that ultimately never came to fruition due to bad luck and an even worse economy.

Things, however, appear to be looking up for the property owners.

“We have a solid tenant who is looking to go here,” Pat Gorman explained on behalf of the property’s owner, Kenneth Dooley Holdings/LLC  Group.

The owners expect that the property could be excavated, filled and the buildings constructed within six months. “We hope to be fully operational this fall,” predicted Gorman.

Mod Space plans on employing 15 individuals at its Middletown site.

While past plans called for the construction of a building approximately 200,000 square feet in size, the new proposal is much smaller.

“I think the important thing to note is the lack of traffic,” argued Gorman. “This is an extremely small impact to the neighborhood.”

While not part of the site plan introduced, the property’s owners do intend to fill 8,000 square feet of wetland on the site that will be surrounded by the gravel parking area. The Army Corps of Engineers will have to give approval of the fill.

According to Gorman, the Army Corps has tentatively agreed allow them to fill the wetlands in exchange for a swap of land near the Boardman property.

If Army Corps approval is not obtained, the wetland would not be filled and would be surrounded by a fence and a drainage pipe installed to ensure the wetland can properly drain following significant rainfall.

After discussion regarding wetland, the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the site plan as presented.

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