A new boat storage building is coming to the town of Chautauqua.

During the recent town board meeting, the board approved a 70 foot by 104 foot commercial storage building for the storage of boats on Mather Road Extension.

The applicant is We Store It, LLC which is owned by Chautauqua Marina.

Chautauqua Marina’s main building is located on Route 394 in Mayville. The new storage facility will be across the street but happens to sit outside the village line.

Town Councilman Scott Cummings said there are several other buildings there already. “They’re just adding another building,” he said.

The Special Use Permit was unanimously approved at the July town board meeting.

The town also scheduled a public hearing for a Special Use Permit for a commercial storage facility to be placed on Beech Hill Road for August. This one will be owned and operated by a different applicant.

At the July Chautauqua Town Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, board members heard about plans by Ward Raynor to construct three 48-foot by 120-foot commercial storage buildings, a drop off parking area for boats, a year-round self-storage parking area behind the buildings, and an additional parking area behind the buildings.

The applicant is using about 8.7 acres of a 227 acre parcel.

The zoning board gave its recommendation for the storage buildings on Beech Hill Road, but the town board will have the final say.

During the zoning board meeting, Raynor said they are storing boats on the property now, but some neighbors have objected to the way it looks. “Instead of being unsightly in their eyes, I decided to put up buildings to help mitigate and make it look better for the area,” he said.

He also has three buildings which are completely full.

Raynor said the majority of the traffic takes place in April and May, as well as September and October. “The increased traffic will be very minimal. You will only have it a few months out of the year and that will be it,” he said.

Raynor said each building would hold 25 boats, which would total 75 boats if all three storage buildings are completely full.

When Raynor was asked if he plans to do any mechanical work he responded, “Not at that time, no. It will just be cold storage.”

He has another location where he does mechanical work.

At the zoning board meeting, neighbors disagreed with Raynor’s assertion that the boat storage has not increased traffic.

They also did not like the fact that Raynor responded with “at this time,” when asked about if there will be mechanical work there.

When it came time to vote, the zoning board of appeals recommended that the town board approve the Special Use Permit with the condition that no mechanical work be permitted.

The town board will take up the issue at its meeting Aug. 12.