By MIKE TOIKA
The relationship between industrial and private residential occupancies is highly complex. Most communities have an abundance of both, and these worlds do collide.
Community planners realize the need for strong tax bases; strong family neighborhoods; and the proper mix of residential homes, industrial complexes, and commercial areas. The result is the lack of attention to one specific detail—outdoor storage. Many communities have zoning ordinances for what, how, and specifically where outdoor storage is allowed. However, the enforcement of these ordinances, or lack thereof, becomes a problem. Too often, industrial occupancies are too small for their current storage arrangement and will store shipping, overstock, or waste materials outdoors (photos 1-3). Many times, this storage becomes an eyesore and, more importantly, a fire hazard.
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| (1) Photos by Mark Spoo. |
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The International Fire Code has special outdoor storage provisions and includes the relationship of the storage to the building, which type can be stored outdoors, and the appropriate precautions to take. Many local zoning ordinances address the issue of screening, storage, and property conservation. Fire and building officials must remember the storage issues regarding property lines and residential neighborhoods. Families don’t want to wake up to a refrigerated semitruck running in the middle of the night in a factory back lot because it arrived too early or too late after closing. Looking out your kitchen window and seeing highly piled pallet storage (photo 4) or large amounts of industrial waste (photo 5) will cause concern for your children’s and home’s safety should something happen.
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Of course, this is only the beginning for the outdoor storage issue. Although its impact on industrial neighborhoods and residential communities is evident, industrial neighborhood employees must remember to be diplomatic with their materials. Remind people that just because they have stock, overflow, or outdoor parking, they must keep it neat, orderly, and safe. Nothing can cause neighbor disputes more often than a stock overflow or creating an eyesore or fire hazard. Zoning ordinances create setbacks for lot lines and, often, these setbacks become a request for a variance, which can infringe on neighbors’ properties. This creates significant exposure problems for any type of outdoor incident that can occur.
Communities need to better plan their neighborhoods and provide proper screening by distance, not fencing or trees. In the summer, trees provide great cover, color, and a feeling of peacefulness. However, in the winter, the focus on outdoor storage returns.
MIKE TOIKA is a 30-year member of the Addison (IL) Fire Protection District #1 and a 13-year fire inspector and seven-year plan reviewer for the Addison Fire Prevention Bureau.
