How to develop a self-storage facility - First Step

Here is my round-about story on how I developed my property. 

I put in an offer for a mini-storage facility in what I determined was an up and coming area (new bridge crossing into a largely undeveloped area other than a few small towns).  I lost out on the mini-storage but came across property that was for sale next door.  I know what you're thinking, direct competition.  Nope, I'm building larger sized self-storage units for businesses to store equipment and materials (and people with a lot of crap).  And you might ask, isn't that place directly across the street with large storage units direct competition too?  Nope, my units are bigger, my driving area is wider (for trailers and large vehicles) and I'm putting electric in all units and heating some units.  I'm really creating something new. 

Getting back to zoning.  Our property was unique.  The front half was zoned commercial and the back half was zoned residential.  The residential zoning es no bueno.  We had to get that changed in order to build self-storage on the back half.  Time to pull up my britches. 

We did some digging and found that the comprehensive plan had the property guided to be zoned commercial.  This was HUGE.  Without that, we probably wouldn't be able to build storage on the back half.  We'd still be able to do something, but certainly not the original plans.  So we went through the process to get the back half rezoned.  We had some opposition from neighbors but the fact that the comp plan guided this property (the entire property) for commercial was a huge factor.  Also, we found out old documentation when the property was originally subdivided that said the property we owned was supposed to be commercial.  It was signed by one of the neighbors who was opposed to our rezoning.  The other guy was a fella who was friends with the neighbors and used our property to ride his tractor back to see his friends.  As an aside, he also thought he had unlimited future access on an old easement on our property to visit his friend. 

So while at the meetings to get our property rezoned, we were asked a million questions.  We also had to have a rough plan for our project up front.  Keep that in mind.  I didn't really have a great plan but I was able to figure things out.  For things like this, it's good to know what other requirements you'll need to do, like a berm or visual buffer, etc., to properly our property.  That helped answer questions.  I guess I could have just said I'll follow all the ordinances, but I felt like it helped to be able to talk the talk. 

While at the meetings I realized that a couple engineering firms were repeatedly there presenting plans and certified survey maps.  I read between the lines and realized I needed to hire these guys to put my plans together and negotiate the town board.  This was a very important revolution.  If I did it again, I would probably just call the township and ask them if anyone is at town board meetings a lot.  If  you don't feel comfortable doing that, look at past meeting minutes.  It shouldn't take long for you to figure this out.  I wish I got them involved earlier.  I would have paid them a little more money than doing it myself, but I would have had a coach and I had to have someone draw up the plans anyhow. 

So, to summarize, make sure the property can be used for your intended use in the first place. 

- Happy developing.