The city also is updating its zoning code to require that property owners remove graffiti within 14 days and restore their properties to their permitted and usual appearance. Dayton officials earlier this year said the city has seen an “explosion” in illegal graffiti.
“We also now have a definition for graffiti and a mechanism so that the zoning administrator can enforce its removal,” said Jennifer Hanauer, city of Dayton planner II and secretary of the Plan Board.
The Dayton City Commission recently approved a variety of revisions and amendments to the city’s zoning code. One of the changes removes indoor self-storage facilities as a permitted use in downtown, commercial and mixed-use zoning districts.
City staff say these kinds of businesses are an “inactive use,” with few employees, that are more appropriate for industrial areas.
Self-storage facilities often occupy larger parcels of land that could otherwise be put to more productive use and generally do not fit the fabric of the area where they are currently permitted, said Jeff Green, city of Dayton planner.
“Storage facilities, from an intent and functionality standpoint, are more closely associated with more industrial uses,” he said.
Downtown has multiple indoor self-storage businesses, including along major corridors like East Third Street and South Main Street.
Other cities and communities have passed similar kinds of bans or regulations on self-storage companies. Beavercreek approved a temporary moratorium on self-storage warehouses and other businesses last summer.
Dayton also has amended the zoning code to include a definition for graffiti. The provision says that property owners are not allowed to let graffiti remain on any structure or surface for longer than 14 days.
Previously, the city got property owners to clean up graffiti and vandalism under a different section of city code related to sign permit requirements, officials said.
The updated zoning code gives a specific timeframe for cleaning up illegal graffiti and vandalism, said Kyrsten French, Dayton’s zoning administrator.
The code says repairs should restore properties and surfaces to a uniform color, and graffiti on non-painted surfaces, like brick or masonry, needs to be cleaned and removed.
Dayton officials and some neighborhood leaders a few months ago said the city has seen a big increase in graffiti this year. Tags were scrawled all over vacant homes, buildings, utility poles, infrastructure and other surfaces in many parts of the city.
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