The town of Windham is known for its sparkling lakes and busy shopping district. It is not known as the home of self-storage facilities – but it should.

According to the assessing department, Windham is already home to seven self-storage facilities, and since June, three proposals for new or expanded facilities have gone before the Planning Board for initial site plan.

By comparison, the neighboring city of Westbrook has a single self-storage facility, while Gorham has two.

The Windham facilities range in size, from roughly 100 units to fewer than 20. The individual units range in size from 5 feet by 5 feet to 20 feet by 20 feet, and cost between $50 and $150 per month to rent.

The three proposals call for the construction of self-storage facilities along Roosevelt Trail, where the majority of the existing facilities are constructed. The proposed facilities, all from different applicants, are between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet in size. The proposals are in sketch-plan phase, so there is little detail about the number and size of the units that would be available.

Kevin Bosworth, owner of JMC Self Storage in Windham, is one of the three applicants before the Planning Board. His proposal is to expand the JMC self-storage facility at 964 Roosevelt Trail to a vacant site at 968 Roosevelt Trail. The existing facility has 118 units with light-blue doors and is set back in the woods on the Raymond side of Seacoast Adventure Park.

JMC Self Storage also owns facilities in Portland, Auburn and Brownfield.

Bosworth said he recently hired a marketing consultant to assess demand for self-storage in Windham, and the market “definitely can’t support three new facilities,” he said.

And though three facilities is “way beyond what the market is in need of,” Bosworth said, he’s not re-thinking his plans.

“We’re established, we’ll have a leg up,” he said.

JMC’s plan for expansion is a 16,250 self-storage facility in three buildings and a 4,750-square-foot retail building. The property is an undeveloped, lightly wooded area on a fairly steep hill across from the Wyndham Microtel. The site plan, which went before the Planning Board July 25, is aptly called “Little Mountain Self Storage & Retail.”

The Planning Board conducted a site walk for the the Little Mountain self-storage proposal on Aug. 6. The next steps for the developer are to submit final plan applications to the board, which will be followed by a public hearing.

Site walks for the other two facilities are yet to be scheduled. Calls to the other two applicants – Fielding’s Oil Self Storage and C&E Enterprises LLC – were not returned before Lakes Region Weekly deadline.

Jim Higgins, owner of Windham’s Apple Tree Self Storage on Whites Bridge Road, and Lakes Region Self Storage on Enterprise Drive, said both facilities, which have been operating for roughly a decade, have been successful.

Windham is a good location for self-storage facilities due to its growing population and businesses, according to Higgins. The facilities are popular among summer residents who own homes, so Windham’s proximity and convenience to Lakes Region towns make it a good location for self-storage, he said.

Higgins said the facility also rents to students at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, who may look to store some of their belongings during the summer while they’re out of the dorms.

Tom Bartell, executive director of the Windham Economic Development Corp., also said Windham’s growing population make it a logical place for self-storage facilities. Because the buildings are allowed in accordance with the town’s zoning laws, it’s a way to use undeveloped or underdeveloped land.

Self-storage facilities are a conditional use in the C-1 district (primarily the commercial district of Route 302) and are a permitted use in the C-3 district (the commercial area primarily east of the Route 302 rotary), on Enterprise Drive and in the town’s industrial zones.

Bartell said the economic development corporation also hopes to see more dense use of the land in the commercial district by attracting office complexes, multi-family and mixed-use buildings to North Windham.

JMC Self Storage’s Windham facility, with light-blue doors, sits in a wooded area back from Roosevelt Trail. The company plans to expand the facility to the adjacent, undeveloped lot.

Lakes Region Self Storage on Enterprise Drive is one of seven self-storage facilities in the town of Windham.