Big toys need super storage

New boat facility plans floated in Gilford, Belmont

By DAVID CARKHUFF, LACONIA DAILY SUN

GILFORD — A second phase of boat storage on Glendale Place cleared a regulatory hurdle Tuesday, as demand persists across the Lakes Region for places to store boats.

The new indoor boat storage facility will accompany an unrelated but nearby project that aims to allow island residents to store their boats in an open lot, also on Glendale Place.

Toy Box II LLC received a special exception from the Gilford Zoning Board of Adjustment Tuesday to allow indoor boat storage at 49 Glendale Place, a loop road near the Glendale Yacht Club. The applicant already offers storage units on a neighboring lot, with about 17 years of history there, town staff reported. The plan for phase II needed a special exception to allow boat storage in the resort commercial zone. A single driveway will provide access to both sites, according to the proposal.

The proposed indoor boat storage now awaits site plan approval from the Gilford Planning Board, which is scheduled on May 15

A different type of accommodation for boat owners in the Glendale area was granted by the Gilford Planning Board on March 20. Randy Remick, applicant/owner, received unanimous approval to use an undeveloped lot for outdoor boat storage in the winter and car parking in the summer for island property owners and renters.

The property, located at 28 Glendale Place, is a parking lot, once intended to accompany a neighboring parcel where a decade ago the town permitted a restaurant in the old Glendale fire station.

"Probably 10 years ago that building and this vacant lot next to it were approved primarily as a restaurant," said town planner John Ayer.

Parking is an allowed use, but boat storage is a special exception already granted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, according to the applicant. The parking area will be gravel with 24 spaces, with a paved entrance, and marketed primarily to island property owners or renters. The applicant plans to install plastic bumpers with numbers on them so everyone will be assigned a parking space.

The applicant said he hopes to alleviate parking in the town's Glendale parking area.

The Gilford Planning Board discussed whether the town should require car and boat trailer parking but limit storage of boats, but the board decided that the owner would find no economic incentive to store boats there in the summer. The application was approved unanimously.

Elsewhere, boat storage has remained a popular development. Contractors are poised to build an outdoor boat storage yard for Irwin Marine on the Laconia-Gilford town line. Those plans face planning board review in both Gilford and Laconia and state review for wetlands mitigation. The proposed site plan calls for expanding Irwin Marine's boat storage yard onto 242,394 square feet, or more than five acres.

In Belmont, two applicants received approval in recent weeks for storage facilities, both of which will accommodate boats, according to Elaine Murphy, land use administrative assistant in Belmont.

Both asked for manager's apartments as part of the developments and required zoning board approval this week.

Vault Motor Storage on Higgins Drive applied for a variance to add a single-family dwelling in the industrial zone, clearing the way for a manager's apartment for the proposed storage facility. Northland Group LLC, with property located across from the Belknap Mall on Route 3, sought a special exception to add a single-family dwelling in the commercial zone, also for a manager's apartment for the self-storage facility.

Vault would offer "high-end boat storage," and Northland would provide outdoor space for boats, Murphy said.

Vault Motor Storage LLC earlier this year announced its plans to build on a model of state-of-the-art construction and technology with a nearly 200,000-square-foot storage facility on Higgins Drive. Charlie Morgan of Vault Motor Storage LLC said the footprint is 89,000 square feet with two floors, allowing storage of RVs and automobiles, high-end automobiles and boats.

Boat storage has become a booming business along Glendale Place in Gilford. (David Carkhuff/Laconia Daily Sun)