Oct. 9, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- CORALVILLE, Iowa, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --On August 10, 2009, Amerco Real Estate Company (AREC), the owner of the U-Haul Center of Coralville located at 2601 2nd St/HWY 6 W, submitted a sustainability-improvement proposal to the City of Coralville. To date, the City of Coralville has not responded.
The proposal submitted to the city of Coralville included ways to:
1. Increase sustainability by reducing the facility's carbon footprint.
2. Enhance the appearance of the U-Haul Center of Coralville.
3. Provide one-stop moving and storage convenience for the community.
The U-Haul Center of Coralville has been serving the do-it-yourself moving needs of Coralville residents and the University of Iowa since 1984. The U-Haul Center of Coralville is a first-generation facility whose services include only the shared use of moving van and trailer rentals, and the retail sale of sustainable moving-related items, such as boxes, packing peanuts which are 100 percent biodegradable, moving pads which are made from recycled denim and the Take a Box/Leave a Box display, which allows community residents to drop off unwanted used boxes for others to use for FREE. U-Haul studies show that 23 percent of moving customers need self-storage before and/or after their move. So, allowing the addition of storage to this location only makes sense for the entire community as a whole. Currently, U-Haul develops only those facilities that can provide both the shared use of rental equipment and the shared use of self-storage services. However, U-Haul also is in the process of adding shared-use self-storage to as many existing facilities as possible in order to provide one-stop convenience for do-it-yourself movers and the community.
In 2007, U-Haul began exploring the possibility of upgrading the appearance of the Coralville U-Haul Center, which would include the addition of shared-use self-storage, permeable ground cover and reimaging of the current facility. AREC contacted Coralville's Building Department to inquire about zoning restrictions for the property. AREC was informed that the location lies in the C-2 (arterial commercial) district in which self-storage was not a permitted use. At that time, AREC asked about any measures that could be taken to gain approval to add self-storage at the location.
