For contractors and fleet owners in Medina, the first rule worth knowing is about vehicles, not buildings. On property used mainly as a home, the city bars parking any commercial vehicle, bus, trailer or truck over 7,000 pounds gross vehicle weight in the driveway or yard, apart from deliveries, emergencies and a police-approved exception for vehicles up to 14,000 pounds. Home occupations must stay inside the dwelling, with no employees and no visible sign of the business.
That points work fleets to the I-1 Industrial District, which permits motor vehicle storage, heavy-duty repair, warehouses and bulk storage, and lists a contractor equipment storage yard as an accessory use. An enclosed equipment building and a working yard can share one parcel there. Farm machinery usually goes on township land around the city instead. In either setting, we size bays, doors and the slab to the largest unit you run and lay out the site so trucks can turn without backing into the street.
What to know before building in Medina
Yards that face homes
When a contractor's equipment storage yard is the main use, I-1 lists it as a conditional use that must be completely enclosed if it faces a residential district. Next to residential zoning, side and rear yards for the principal building grow from 25 to 50 feet and the front yard to 100 feet. We plan the building as part of the screen.
Taller doors in the industrial district
I-1 limits accessory buildings to 25 feet only where they sit within the principal building's minimum side or rear yard, and allows principal or accessory buildings up to 80 feet when set back at least 100 feet from the site's perimeter. That leaves room for tall doors for dump bodies, booms and lifts.
Storage trailers are short-term only
Medina's zoning code allows a vehicle or other object used mainly for storage to sit on a lot for no more than two periods of 10 consecutive days a year. On nonresidential property the Planning Director may waive that. For permanent storage, a permitted building is the dependable answer.
Slab and span for heavy units
Loaded tandem-axle trucks and tracked machines concentrate weight at the door threshold and along the wheel paths. We thicken the slab and apron where wheels turn, keep the interior free of posts with clear-span trusses, and add a floor drain bay if equipment will be washed or thawed inside.
Common equipment storage facilities projects around Medina
- Contractor equipment building with an enclosed yard on I-1 land
- Fleet garage for trucks over the 7,000 lb residential limit
- Heavy-duty repair bay with tall overhead doors
- Machinery storage for a farm in a nearby township
- Residential storage building for a mower, snow blower and utility trailer
Equipment Storage Facilities FAQs for Medina
Can I replace my storage containers with a building?
Yes, and in Medina that is often the cleaner long-term choice, since storage units and similar objects are limited to two 10-day periods a year unless the Planning Director waives the rule on nonresidential property. A permanent building needs a zoning certificate and a city building permit, and on larger business lots it may need site plan review.
Where should a machinery shed go if I farm near Medina?
On the farm itself, which for most operations near the city means township land. Township zoning cannot prohibit buildings incident to agriculture on parcels over five acres, and if the township zoning inspector certifies the shed for agricultural use, the state building code no longer applies to it. Inside the city, agriculture is permitted only in the O-C district on lots of five acres or more.
How do you decide bay sizes?
We list every machine and trailer you plan to park, with its working dimensions: mirrors out, bucket on, mast or boom in travel position. Then we add a walkway around each unit and decide whether you want drive-through bays or back-in bays. Door headers and the clear height under the trusses are set from the tallest unit, not the average.
About our equipment storage facilities
Clear-span storage buildings for trucks, tractors and heavy equipment, with doors and sidewalls sized to the machines you park inside.
Sizes, materials and options