7.4. SR 04-21-1997.ty of
iver
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor and City Council
Steve Ach, City Planne~r~
April 21, 1997
Conditional Use Permit Request by
Enterprise Leasing Company, Public
Hearing Case No. CU 97-6
Issue
Enterprise Leasing Company is requesting a conditional use permit to occupy
approximately 2,000 sq. ft. to operate a rental car business.
Location
North of Main Street, west of Carson Street, and immediately south of
Kennedy Transmission
Zoning/Lane Use
C3 (Highway Commercial) / HB (Highway Business)
Attachments
Report to the Planning Commission dated March 25, 1997
Background
In August 1994, the City Council approved a conditional use permit to
construct a 15,400 sq. ft. auto mall and to have multiple buildings on a single
parcel. During that review, available parking was an issue that received
much discussion. Since that original approval, the auto mall has developed
as proposed; however, the southern freestanding building has been converted
from the original plan of retail space to Kennedy Transmission and now, the
Enterprise Leasing Car Company.
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
Memo to the Mayor and City Council
April 21, 1997
Overview
Page 2
Enterprise Leasing Company's request will involve occupying approximately
2,000 sq. ft. to be used primarily for office space and to install one overhead
door on the east side of the building to construct a wash bay. The wash bay
will be used for cleaning the rental cars, as well as performing inspection of
the automobile's fluids such as oil, window washer, radiator, and other light
maintenance items. Enterprise has indicated they have no plans to be
performing extensive maintenance or repair on any of their vehicles at this
location. If a vehicle does need to be repaired, it would be taken to the
appropriate facility to have that work done.
In letters received from Enterprise Leasing Company, they plan to have a
fleet of cars anywhere from 15 to 20. A parking area immediately south of
the space to be leased by Enterprise has 18 available stalls with possibly 3 or
4 available immediately in front. This number may be changed depending
upon the location of the overhead door that needs to be installed which will
affect the number of parking stalls.
Parking
From the time the auto mall was originally proposed, staff expressed
concerns with the parking demands for the related businesses. Although the
number of parking stalls provided on site meets the city's ordinances, the
"distribution" of available stalls has created some problems. For example, it
appears as though Tires Plus and JR Tech generate a fair amount of traffic
and have a lack of convenient parking stalls. Therefore, the parking from
these two businesses has a tendency to shift to the south where there is more
available parking. In an attempt to manage the parking on site, the
Planning Commission and staff have recommended Enterprise Leasing
Company be limited to 15 cars that they can keep on site and restricting the
location to the southern-most parking area.
Planning Commission Recommendation
The Planning Commission recommended approval of the conditional use
permit request by Enterprise Leasing Company with the following
conditions:
The number of vehicles parked outside be limited to a maximum of 15
with the opportunity to increase this number to 20 after six months.
Staff shall report back to the Planning Commission and City Council
after the six months with a progress report and recommendation
whether the increase to 20 cars will be acceptable.
S:\council\cu97-6.doc
Memo to the Mayor and City Council
April 21, 1997
Page 3
The parking of vehicles be limited to the parking lot immediately
south of the proposed space to be leased.
3. No auto sales shall be allowed on this site.
Business hours shall be: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. - Monday through Friday
9 a.m. to 12 noon - Saturday
On-site lighting shall be directed away from the residential area
immediately to the west.
No signage shall be allowed on the west side of the building and
proposed wall signage shall consist of individual lit letters.
Recommendation
It is recommended the City Council approve the conditional use permit
request by Enterprise Leasing Company with the conditions outlined in the
Planning Commission's recommendation.
S:\council\cu97-6.doc
'ty of
ITEM 5.4.
iver
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
MEMORANDUM
Planning Commission
Ach, City Plannex~~__
Steve
March 25, 1997
Conditional Use Permit Request by
Enterprise Leasing Company, Public
Hearing Case No. CU 97-6
Enterprise Leasing Company is requesting a conditional use permit to occupy
approximately 2,000 square feet to operate a rental car business.
Location
North of Main Street, west of Carson Street, and immediately south of
Kennedy Transmission
Zoning/Land Use
C3 (Highway Commercial) / HB (Highway Business)
Attachments
· Location map
· Letters from the applicant
· Site plan
Background
In August, 1994, the City Council approved a conditional use permit to
construct a 15,400 square foot automall and to have multiple buildings on a
single parcel. A couple of the main issues the Planning Commission and City
Council discussed in approving this apphcation centered on providing
adequate buffer between Guardian Angels immediately to the west and the
proposed automall. The second issue centered on providing the required
parking based on the types of uses proposed for the automall. Even though
the site presently provides parking that meets the city's parking
requirements, staff has always been concerned with the "distribution" of the
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
Memo to the Planning Commission/CU 97-6 Page 2
March 25, 1997
parking on site. Generally speaking, the north and middle part of the site
seem to lack adequate parking opportunities, thereby forcing a majority of
the parking to occur towards the south end of the project.
In June, 1995, the developer requested a conditional use permit for Kennedy
Transmission to occupy 3,500 square feet of a 5,500 square foot building at
the south end of the automall. In a sense, this request moved in the direction
of helping the parking on site by reducing the intensity of the original
planned use of retail to an auto-related use. Enterprise Leasing Company's
request is to occupy the remaining 2,000 square feet for their leasing
company.
Analysis
Enterprise Leasing Company's request will involve occupying approximately
2,000 square feet which will be used primarily for office space. However, one
modification will be made to the building to install one overhead door which
will be used as a wash bay. The outside parking area is proposed to have
anywhere from 15 to 20 cars parked outside waiting to be leased. The
apphcant has indicated they are intending on using the southerly end of the
site to park their cars. According to the approved site plan there are
currently 18 stalls available. There are also 7 stalls directly in front of the
space to be occupied by Enterprise Leasing Company. However, some of
these stalls will be removed along with the installation of an overhead door
for the wash bay facility.
Parking
Once again, Enterprise Leasing Company's request is to occupy anywhere
from 15 to 20 parking stalls for the leasing of vehicles. My understanding is
this does not include the 2 to 5 employees expected to be working out of this
office. Upon a recent inspection of the site, it was obvious the parking
demands from Tires Plus, JR Tech and Abra Auto Body are forcing several
cars towards the south end of the site. In fact, some of the cars have recently
been parking on a landscaped area next to Highway 169. Staff is still
concerned with the distribution of the parking opportunities on this site. It
appears as though the Enterprise Leasing Company's request is somewhat
removed from the balance of the project and could stand on its own.
However, rather than approving the 15 to 20 cars as requested, the
Commission may want to allow a lesser number of cars initially to see how
the site will function, and if there are no problems, allow the number of cars
parked on site to be increased as requested by the applicant.
\\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\planning\pc\cu97-6.doc
Memo to the Planning Commission/CU 97-6
March 25, 1997
Open Sales Lot
Page 3
Enterprise Rent-A-Car's request to park anywhere from 15 to 20 cars on site
will be very similar to any other auto dealership; therefore, staff has
recommended the conditional use permit be applied for. If there are any
issues the Planning Commission sees in having these cars parked outside
similar to an auto sales lot, this should be discussed at the public hearing.
Recommendation
It is recommended the Planning Commission recommend approval of the
conditional use permit request by Enterprise Leasing Company to occupy
approximately 2,000 square feet with the following conditions:
The number of vehicles parked outside be limited to a maximum of 10
with the opportunity of increasing this to 20 after six months if the site
is able to accommodate additional cars parked on site.
The sales lot be limited to the parking lot immediately south of the
proposed space to be leased.
\\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\planning\pc\cu97.6.doc
LOCATION
178TH
177TH
i
City of Ii/lA I'~
/ 13065Orono Parkway-P.O. Box 490 CASE:
Elk River, MN 55330
CJ.
22070,n~
646 7~ ~
fOfJt ~l~ ll~l~l~6 ~l Il.
.l
2484 North Cleveland Ave.
Rosevdte, MN 5.5113
612-628-9000
February 24, 1997
City of Elk River
Enterprise Rent-A-Car was started in St. Louis, MO in the mid-fifties and has now been in
business for over 40 years. Enterprise has locations all across the United States, Canada, and
England. In Minnesota, Enterprise has 22 locations, including 17 in the Twin Cities
Metropolitan Area. We also have locations in Duluth/Superior, St. Cloud, Brainerd, Stillwater
and Rochester. Enterprise specializes in renting to people who are getting body work or service
work done to their car. Our multiple locations enable us to be located right in the community
that we do business with on a daily basis. Enterprise separates itself from most rental companies,
because we can either pick our customer up or deliver the car to their home, work, or repair shop.
At our office locations we usually have 2 to 6 employees that handle our daily business. Since
most of the cars are rented away from the office, our main function at the office is of an
administrative nature. Each Enterprise office does have one garage that is used for the purpose
of cleaning our cars. Since all of the cars are 1996 - 1997's, all repairs are done under warranty
at the dealership in or near the community. Any other maintenance, such as oil changes, is
performed off site at a local shop. We have identified a need for rental car services in the Elk
River community and are looking forward to servicing the community in the future.
Chris Phillips
Area Rental Manager
CP/aln
2484 Nor'th Cleveland Ave.
Rosevilie, MN 5511.3
612-628-9000
February 24, 1997
Dear City of Elk River:
As far as parking is concerned, we will need between 15-20 spaces. This range is the most we
would ever need. We do not display any signs, banners, or flags on our cars while they are
parked on our lot. The parking is used for our cars when they are not being rented. The object of
our business is to keep all of our cars on rent as much as possible. This leads to very few cars
being parked on our lot at any given time.
Chris Phillips
Area Manager