A long-running Victor business is asking town officials to reconsider how zoning rules apply to storage containers after a nearly hour-long discussion before the Zoning Board of Appeals Monday night.
The case involves IK Systems at 7625 County Road 42, where two shipping containers have been installed beneath an engineered metal roof to provide additional storage for the company’s equipment and materials.
The property is located in Victor’s light industrial district, where town staff says detached storage containers aren’t a permitted accessory use.
The business owner challenged that interpretation, arguing the containers function as enclosed storage directly related to an existing business and shouldn’t necessarily require a use variance.
IK Systems has operated at the property for more than three decades. The owner told the board the company integrates security systems using premanufactured cameras, access controls and related equipment and needed additional indoor storage as the business grew.
The containers have no power or water, and no employees work inside them.
The dispute centers on how Victor’s zoning code treats accessory structures in the light industrial district.
Town staff said other zoning districts specifically permit accessory structures, but the light industrial district lists only certain accessory uses. Detached storage sheds and containers aren’t among them.
Because the code doesn’t expressly address shipping containers, the town has historically treated them as storage sheds or similar accessory structures.
Several board members said they agreed with the code enforcement officer’s interpretation, but the discussion quickly expanded into a broader question: Should Victor’s light industrial zoning rules be changed to allow businesses some form of detached storage?
Board members told the applicant that question belongs with the Town Board, which has the authority to amend zoning law.
The Zoning Board can interpret the existing code and decide variance requests, but members said they can’t effectively rewrite the ordinance through an individual application.
That distinction is important because if the storage structure isn’t permitted under the existing code, IK Systems would likely need a use variance to keep it.
Board members warned that use variances carry a much higher legal standard than typical area variances. An applicant generally must demonstrate that the property can’t provide a reasonable return under uses already permitted by zoning.
Rather than force a decision Monday night, the board agreed to give the applicant time to approach town officials and explore whether a code amendment may be appropriate.
The matter is expected to return no earlier than the board’s Nov. 2 meeting.
If the existing code remains unchanged and IK Systems moves ahead with a use variance request, the application would also need to be reviewed by the Ontario County Planning Board before Victor’s Zoning Board could make a final determination.
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