Factory to be home to indoor vehicle garage

Grafton Self Storage on Beech Street will soon have an indoor car garage.

  The village’s Plan Commission last week approved plans for the car park that will replace light industrial space in the building that has been the target of criticism from nearby residents.

Twenty-eight thousand square feet of the self-storage building at 550 Beech St. will be converted into an indoor car park with 72 spaces, 37 of which are for passenger-sized vehicles. An overhead door and ramp will be added to the Bridge Street side of the building.

Owner Brian Biller said he hopes the car park will create a “buffer” between the commercial and industrial buildings to the south of Bridge Street and homes across the street.

In October, insulation manufacturer Aerogel Technologies proposed renting the space. However, that lease fell through, Biller said.

Microbrush, which is based at 1376 Cheyenne Ave., rented the Beech Street facility for two years to produce Covid-19 nasal test wipes.

Neighbors complained that semi-trucks frequently drove on their yards and driveways when making deliveries and that Microbrush employees were loud at night and often parked on the street instead of the parking lot.

In a  November letter to Ozaukee Press, Grafton Plant Manager Paul Fossum said Microbrush proactively “addressed any concerns raised by the village and our neighbors” during its tenancy.

Village President Dan Delorit said the storage facility would be useful for winter storage of convertibles or other warm-weather cars.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, we’ve become a society needing to store things,” he said. 

Biller agreed to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. access hours for the car storage. 

He originally proposed allowing access until 2 a.m., which Delorit said would be unnecessary and bothersome for nearby residents.

“I’m not sure if I would come at 11 o’clock and grease up my hot rod,” Delorit said.

Biller said an owner of a similar facility in Cedarburg told him that on average only two to four people access the storage each day. 

Brad Josephitis, who owns a house across the street from the entrance, and several other Bridge Street residents expressed concern about the traffic impact of the facility.

“What I see with this is more traffic up and down Bridge Street,” Josephitis said. 

The residents pointed out that St. Paul Lutheran School down the street is constructing a new wing to accommodate a growing student population, which is also adding traffic to Bridge Street.

Delorit said residents’ traffic concerns are not a Plan Commission issue.

“While it is impacted by St. Paul’s, it is a separate issue,” he said. “If you have issues with speed and traffic, that is a police department concern, not a Plan Commission concern.”

Trustee Jim Brunnquell said the facility will likely not generate significant traffic as it would be inconvenient for daily use, since drivers would presumably need to be dropped off or trade out cars to access their stored vehicles.

Bridge Street resident Gerald Russell said that after talking with Biller, he thought car storage was a “solid plan.”

However, he expressed concern that the added ramp could make future industrial use for the facility tempting.

Biller said he lined up the entrance ramp so it is between the two properties across the street.

Auto storage customers are not allowed to park on Bridge Street.