photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World File Photo

The Douglas County Courthouse at 1100 Massachusetts St., which houses the county government, is shown on Sept. 15, 2018.

The owner of a property on the northern outskirts of Lawrence wants to build a boat storage and ministorage facility there, but several neighbors have petitioned against the plan.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted 5-5 on the conditional use permit at its June 24 meeting, according to a draft of meeting minutes. The request is now headed to the Douglas County Commission, which will consider it during its Wednesday meeting.

EZ Storage would be located at 1803 East 1200 Road, which is northwest of East 1200 Road and the Farmer’s Turnpike — about 1 mile northwest of the Kmart Distribution Center. County planning staff is recommending that the commission approve the request.

1803 E 1200 Rd, Lawrence, KS 66049

However, several owners of nearby properties have filed a petition against the permit that lists several concerns, including increased traffic, a diminishing of scenery, unknown policies to avoid abandoned and junk vehicle storage, and tax implications of adjacent development. The nearly 40-page petition also lists 17 self-storage facilities within a 10-mile radius.

In other business, commissioners will continue budget discussions. No further information about the discussion was available in agenda materials as of Tuesday afternoon.

The commission will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. There is no 4 p.m. work session. Full agendas are available online at douglascountyks.org.