City Council Workshop

Blaine City Hall City of Blaine 10801 Town Sq Dr NE Blaine, MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes City Council Workshop Thursday, February 15, 2018 6:45 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING 1 Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ryan at 6:50 p.m. 2 Roll Call Quorum Present. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Clark Arneson; Planning and Community Development Director Bryan Schafer; Public Works Director Jon Haukaas; Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Brian Podany; Finance Director Joe Huss; Economic Development Coordinator Erik Thorvig; Public Services Manager/Assistant City Manager Bob Therres; City Attorney Patrick Sweeney; Communications Technician Roark Haver; Senior Engineering Technician Al Thorp; and City Clerk Catherine Sorensen. Present: 6 - Councilmember Hovland, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember King, Councilmember Garvais, Mayor Ryan, and Councilmember Swanson Absent: 1 - Councilmember Jeppson 3 New Business 3-2 BLAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY - STORIES OF BLAINE Attachments: Historical Society Letter Orville Lindquist, President of the Blaine Historical Society, discussed the work being completed by the historical society and updated the Council. Mr. Lindquist reported the historical society began in 2004 with the assistance of Councilmember Hovland. Mr. Lindquist commented on the success of the historical poster series. Mr. Lindquist requested the Council support and assist with the design and publication of the historical societies book Stories of Blaine. Mr. Lindquist explained this book would be a good starting point for the collection of Blaine’s history. Councilmember Clark asked if the City had dollars set aside for this project. City City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes February 15, 2018 Manager Arneson reported the City had $10,000 in funds set aside. Mayor Ryan thanked Orville Lindquist and Karen Klinkenberg for all of their efforts on the book. He stated he supported the City offering $10,000 in financial assistant to the historical society for their book. Councilmember Hovland discussed the history of the City’s flag. Councilmember Clark encouraged the historical society to have an eBook. Council consensus was to direct staff to bring this item back for Council action for financial support of $10,000. 3-1 GAS SALES DISTANCE FROM SCHOOLS Attachments: WS Item - Gas Sales distance from Schools.pdf Planning and Community Development Director Schafer stated a grocery use/retail developer is developing plans for the 40-acre site at 125th and Jefferson (between the Crescent Ponds neighborhood and Roosevelt Middle School). They have developed a very preliminary plan for Council discussion. The plan shows a gas/convenience store at the entrance to the development adjacent to Jefferson Street. The developer feels that the convenience/gas component is critical to the success of the grocery store use and development. It was noted a portion of this site is zoned B-2 (community Commercial). The B-2 zoning text does not allow gasoline sales within 1,000 feet of a school building. The site plan shows where the 1,000 feet setback intersects with the gas pumps/canopy that will be proposed. Councilmember King questioned what the thought was behind the 1,000-foot setback. Mr. Schafer stated this was due to the number of delivery vehicles and the fact that middle school students could migrate to a convenience store. Mayor Ryan commented this could have begun when he was delivering gas and could be changed to 500 feet. Council consensus was to support the proposed PBD rezoning and to schedule this item for a future workshop meeting to review a potential code amendment to remove the distance restrictions between gas sales and schools. 3-3 BULK MATERIAL STORAGE BUILDINGS IN HEAVY INDUSTRIAL ZONING DISTRICTS Attachments: WS Item - 8625 Rendova St NE.pdf Planning and Community Development Director Schafer stated Kraus Anderson Construction operates their construction and storage yard from their site at 8625 Rendova Street. The site is zoned I-2A (Heavy Industrial). Kraus Anderson would like to build a 3,000 square foot hoop supported structure for storage of lumber City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes February 15, 2018 and miscellaneous materials. The building does not meet the City’s architectural and exterior materials requirement for a building because of the hoop/fabric nature of the building. It was noted the I-2 zoning district allows bulk storage buildings as an accessory use, and exempts them from the architectural standards, but the I-2A zoning does not. In order to accept an application and allow this type of structure in the I-2A the ordinance would need to be amended by the City Council. Mayor Ryan stated he did not support this request. Councilmember Hovland stated he would rather see a pole barn than a hoop structure. Councilmember King agreed and stated he did not support Kraus Anderson’s request. Council consensus was to not amend code that allows bulk material storage as requested. Other Business None. ADJOURN The Workshop was adjourned at 7:24 p.m. Adjourned City of Blaine Page 3