COUPEVILLE — It’s nothing but a small grassy lot at the foot of Freeland Hill right now. But if Terry Otey of Freeland gets his proposed project approved, the narrow lot near the Freeland Library could become a warehouse and storage facility.

The potential for another storage facility in Freeland has left some people unhappy, however.

Some see the proposal as a rush to the permit counter to capitalize on Freeland’s current zoning before new regulations are implemented to fit with the newly adopted Freeland Sub Area Plan.

“The future of Freeland is in the hands of five people, the Island County commissioners, Jeff Tate and Ginger Burgess,” said Lou Malzone of Freeland.

Malzone said the project won’t fit with Freeland’s new rules once they are adopted.

“If this project is approved, it sets a precedent that will allow other developers to submit proposals that would create further non-conforming land uses in Freeland,” he said.

Ann Pringle of Freeland agreed. She was one of 15 people who submitted written comments on the development.

“Island County will create a 100 percent non-conforming, non-municipal urban growth area use if it approves this application for a storage facility in the heart of Freeland,” wrote Pringle.

“The proposal is absolutely inappropriate inside the NMUGA of Freeland. The Freeland Sub Area Plan specifically prohibits a use such as storage and mini storage,” she added.

Freeland is currently split into “rural center” zoning for businesses and “rural residential” zoning for homes. Some areas just on the edge of the non-municipal urban growth area is zoned “rural” or “rural forest.”

Warehouses, as well as personal storage facilities and other storage businesses, can be permitted outright in the “rural center” zone, although those that are larger than 12,000 square feet must also get a “conditional use” permit.

A wide range of land uses can be permitted outright in “rural center” zoning, including group homes, light manufacturing businesses, office buildings and healthcare facilities.

Otey, who is co-owner of Freeland Warehousing and Storage, said he is not trying to beat the upcoming zoning changes.

“It’s just happenstance. We’ve been looking at this project for

10 months now,” he said.

Some who have criticized the proposed project have raised concerns that the building will damage the landscape, prevent water from soaking into the aquifer, increase the amount of surface water run-off into Holmes Harbor and ruin the rural character of the area.

“Freeland is not an industrial zone, especially in the area close to the library and medical offices,” wrote Dimitri Rabinovich of Freeland.

Others said the property should be used for a park, or said the proposed steel-sided building would be an eyesore.

Otey said the proposal is allowed within the existing “rural center” zoning.

“It’s not going to be like A-OK Self Storage or Waterman Self Storage,” he said. “The building will look like Interstate Label or the auto-body building.”

“It’s not going to be a business where you drive up and store your stuff inside. We will provide containers to people for their household goods to be stored in a warehouse.”

Jeff Tate, director of the Island County Planning Department, said the proposal fits with the property’s current zoning designation.

If the building is constructed and the zoning changes, the land use would be grandfathered in, Tate said.

This allows the storage facility to operate, but they would never be able to expand. They’d be stuck with what they have,” he said.

“I understand the frustration of the people who invested time into creating the plan,” he said, referring to the Freeland Sub Area Plan. “People will say ‘This is contrary to all the work we did.’ But the reality is, the law is the law.”

“If we denied an application because rules might change, we wouldn’t win,” Tate added. “We’d have no leg to stand on in court.”

Tate also appreciates the public comments, but said the county’s review of the proposal is just beginning.

“We’re early in the review process. There is plenty of time to consider the Freeland Sub Area Plan when processing this proposal,” he said. Tate said emotional arguments against the project will only go so far.

“Ultimately, we have to go back to the code to make sure the project is consistent with each of the code standards,” he said.

Otey and his partners, Matthew and Serene Armstrong, are entering a new market, Otey said.

“It’s the storage solution of the future. This is a service people are looking for,” Otey said. “Most of our storage will be long-term, and then it will get shipped.”

He also said the business will generate little traffic.

“We won’t have many trucks coming. We’ve estimated we’ll make about 11 trips a day with our own vehicles,” Otey said.

“Everyone has an opinion and they are entitled to theirs,” he added. “It is what it is. We want to be good neighbors. We’re doing something we perceive the public wants; containers inside a building.”