LEOMINSTER — The Leominster City Council voted unanimously Feb. 25, 2026, to deny a zoning petition that would have allowed self-storage facilities in the city’s multi-use (MU1) underlying zoning districts by special permit from the planning board, with councilors citing concerns about the citywide impact of changing the zoning table of uses.
The petition, filed by Attorney Jeffery Aveni, Dombrowski, Aveni & Bunnell, P.C., sought to amend Section 22-17 of the City of Leominster Zoning Ordinance by changing self-storage in MU1 districts from “not allowed” to a use permitted by special permit from the planning board. Presently, the city’s zoning ordinance characterizes self-storage as a “business use” that is only allowed in the industrial zoning district. The request for the amendment of Section 22-17 was made on behalf of 21 Jungle Road, LLC, the owner of the land parcel located at 21 Jungle Road in Leominster.
During the Feb. 25 meeting, the Leominster City Council’s Legal Affairs Committee held a public hearing on the petition before the full city council, which voted on the proposal later on in the meeting.
Jungle Road, LLC has entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement with Horizon Storage Group, LLC for the purchase of the parcel, contingent upon Horizon Storage Group securing all necessary approvals and permits for the construction of a self-storage facility at 21 Jungle Road.
The petition’s narrative described the Jungle Road parcel as an “ideal site for self-storage” due to its proximity to Route 2 and Route 190, and stated that the surrounding area is largely commercial or industrial in nature.
“The premises is located in an area that is for the most part commercial or industrial in nature,” the petition states. Adding, “There are no residential uses that abut or are in the vicinity of the premises.”
During the meeting, Ward 4 Councilor Mark Bodanza, who noted that the council had previously rejected a similar petition for a self-storage facility on Harvard Street, said his primary concern was that the proposed zoning change would apply to every MU1 district in the city rather than only the Jungle Road parcel.
“The issue we had back then is the same one I think that is present now,” Bodanza said. “This isn’t just affecting one piece of land. This is affecting all the MU1 parcels in the city.”
Bodanza said he spoke with the petitioner’s engineer and suggested that the petitioner could instead pursue rezoning the individual parcel rather than requesting a change that would affect zoning throughout the city.
“I think there might be some appetite for this land use if in fact it was done as a result of rezoning that affected that parcel and not this unknown set of parcels throughout the city,” Bodanza said.
Other councilors echoed those concerns, saying the proposal could create unintended consequences if the zoning ordinance were changed for the entire MU1 district classification.
“I agree. I have concerns about changing the whole MU1 zoning to allow this across the city and then get us into a position where we say, ‘Oh, we didn’t mean there,’ six months from now or ten years from now,” Councilor At Large Brandon Robbins said during the discussion. Adding, “If there’s an opportunity to change the zoning of just this one parcel of land, I would much rather see that than these wholesale changes.”
Likewise, Ward 3 Councilor David Cormier, a member of the Legal Affairs Committee who presided over the hearing in the absence of committee chair Pauline Cormier, said he believed the Jungle Road parcel itself could be suitable for a storage facility but emphasized that the zoning amendment would extend far beyond the property in question.
“I think this site is probably a good site for what they want to do,” Cormier said. “But the problem is…what they were going to propose was going to affect the whole city, and that was probably going to be a challenge.”
David Cormier said the applicant could consider other approaches, such as rezoning the specific parcel rather than amending the entire zoning category.
The Legal Affairs Committee then opened the floor for public comment, but no members of the public came forward. Cormier subsequently moved to close the public hearing and recommend denying the petition.
Later on in the meeting, the full Leominster City Council voted unanimously, 8–0, to deny the proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance.