Village Trustees Create Residential Storage Container Law

Following public input at the November and December board meetings, the Farmingdale Village Board of Trustees approved a law requiring residents to secure a permit for temporary storage containers being housed on property for more than seven days.

"It was the Board's belief, potentially, that people to avoid building sheds and getting permits for those sheds or building more permanent structures were just putting these containers up," Mayor George Starkie said. 

The law defines temporary storage containers as units no larger than 8.6 feet in height and 160 square feet total and those "intended for the purpose of storing or keeping household goods and other personal property that is intended to be filled, refilled or emptied while located outdoors on a residential property." The popular PODS units would fit this definition.

A grace period of seven days was added as a provision to account for residents moving in and out of the area. Residents who have the containers on their property for more than seven days without a permit will receive a $250 fine per incident.

These permits will only be granted if there is already a building permit for improvement of the dwelling with the storage container. Community members questioned these provisions, the size restrictions of the container, how it would be enforced and the amount of the fine.

"The fine has the to be comparable to the price of the POD," one resident said.

If a permit is granted, the storage container can remain on the property for 90 days before residents have to submit an application for a permit extension.

"There have been specific incidents of abuse of the use of these temporary structures and we are hoping that this fixes the problem," Mayor Starkie said. "If it doesn't we will go back and fix the law. Because there's no rules now at all, right now you can't knock on the door and ask what is up with the POD. This gives us the ability to investigate and ask questions."