Loading...
7.0. EDSR 04-14-2003 Item # 7 of Elk River MEMORANDUM TO: Economic Development Authority FROM: Catherine Mehelich, Director of Economic Development//�2( DATE: April 9, 2003 SUBJECT: Industrial Land Development Issue Attachments • Market Strategy&Product Offering Action Items,2002-2004 Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan • Memo from Director of Planning re: Planning Commission Discussion on Business • Park Standards • Correspondence from Rivers Crossing, Gary Santwire Issue The City's goal is to be "the light industrial hub for small to medium-size firms in the northwest metro region". This mission was adopted by the EDA as part of the Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan. Over the past two years staff has experienced two primary barriers to successfully recruiting small to medium sized light industrial development in Elk River. The two barriers are: • Availability of 1.5 —2 acres lots • Land costs Alternatives to Overcoming the Barriers At the March EDA meeting staff, and Mr. Inman of Ehlers &Associates, provided a preliminary report on the analysis of industrial park options. The alternatives that are currently being researched and explored include: • Strategies for working with private landowners of business park property • Strategy for development of city owned lands (Brown, Cargill) • Changes to ordinance standards Requested Action • Staff recommends that the EDA utilize the Marketing Committee to review the work of Ehlers/staff and make a recommendation back to the EDA. Industrial Land Development Issue April 14,2003—EDA Page 2 of 2 The Marketing Committee is ideally suited to this task for several reasons,including: • Active role in the development of the Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan • Different stakeholder perspective—bank,industry, development, city council • Take issue into context with the overall Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan and possible changes Market Strategy, Objectives & Positioning D To establish City of Elk River as the hub for light manufacturing firms in the northwest metro region of the Twin Cities by 2005. ❑ To build out East and West Business Parks with a range of building sizes that meets the City of Elk River's design standards by 2010. ❑ To target the following Standard Industrial Classification sectors: Industrial Machinery, Fabricated Metal and Electronic Equipment. City of Elk River's Product Offering o Confidential Location Site Services o Information and knowledge of state, regional and local products and services that help an industrial client locate, grow and prosper. o Available Industrial Land o Land Acquisition Incentives o Tax Increment Financing o Tax Rebate Financing o Micro Loan Fund Analysis There appears to be confusion in the marketplace if the City truly desires industrial development. The current design standards are not written specifically for industrial development including design standards that small industrial companies can build to or willing to invest at. Also,calling the two parks East Business Park and West Business Park does not directly say to the target market,they are welcomed or if industrial firms will be compatible. For example, a small industrial client typically needs no more than 1.5 to 3 acres and a broader range of more economical building materials. There typically is not a standard industrial building style because it depends on the operating functions that are required within the building. However, small to medium-size industrial companies typically need heavy power and reliability,water capacity,heavy floor loads,no height restrictions,storage of flammable or hazardous materials and no restrictions on hours of operations. They may • need to operate three shifts. • Duckor&Associates,Inc. 3 A BIuePrint for Your Success . ..Today and Tomorrow • The City of Elk River Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan must be both understood and agreed to by the City Administration,City Council and all City Commissions. There appears to be a lack of understanding of the customer requirements and needs of light manufacturing/industrial firms by the Planning Commission. There must be an alignment between the customer requirements(for light manufacturing/industrial firms)and the City's Product Offering. The City of Elk River is at a distinct competitive disadvantage with both business parks because it does not own the land directly and multiple owners own the land. This causes the process to take longer because of the private land pricing and negotiations. Also,this limits the City of Elk River's capability to close the deal compared to its competition.As planned in the Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan,joint-marketing agreements would be obtained with the landowners to avoid this issue. However,the joint-marketing agreements were not obtained because landowners did not perceive any value. Without signed contracts with landowners for initial marketing,sale and development,that include a price for the land,it is impossible for the City to know what the land offering is for the client. Therefore, it is difficult for the City simply to provide a seamless process for the client nor does it look like the City is knowledgeable about their product offering. It is critical that the City is able to move quickly and also be in the lead of the siting process. In addition,the key competitors are offering"Up-front"financing(land for$1)for industrial • development in their respective cities. The "Up-front" financing is attractive to industrial firms because it reduces the initial capital outlay. The City of Elk River's "Pay As You Go" financing is a distinct competitive disadvantage and limits the amount of industrial development the City can capture compared to its competitors. Action Education and Strategy Alignment with Policy Makers o Duckor & Associates, Inc. to debrief the Planning Commission on Industrial Development and Clients' Requirements. (Fall 2002) o Conduct a joint site tour with both the Economic Development Authority(EDA) and Planning Commission and visit competitive industrial parks in Anoka,Ramsey, Rogers, and Big Lake. (Fall 2002) o Expand knowledge and understanding of state, regional and local Economic Development tools to assist industrial clients to grow and prosper. (On-going) ❑ Expand and develop working knowledge of staff,EDA and Planning Commission, about the industry and business information in the targeted sectors: Industrial Machinery, Fabricated Metal and Electronic Equipment by monitoring industry magazines, etc. (On-going) i Duckor&Associates,Inc. 4 A BluePrint for Your Success. . . Today and Tomorrow Industrial Land Development ❑ Dedicate city-owned land with utilities for industrial development and name it Elk River Industrial Park,and pursue purchasing additional city owned properties.(Fall- Winter 2002-2003) ❑ Or,dedicate one of the current business parks to industrial development if the land- owners are willing to sign the joint marketing agreements,and name it accordingly e.g., Elk River Industrial Park. (Fall-Winter 2002 -2003) ❑ Analyze and redraft the ordinance standards to better meet the industrial clients' requirements regarding Design Standards. (Fall-Winter 2002-2003) ❑ Revisit and revise,as appropriate,the "Park Dedication Fees" for industrial clients e.g., $2,000 per acre. (Fall-Winter 2002-2003) ❑ Develop and pay for attractive signage for the dedicated Elk River Industrial Park. (Winter 2003) ❑ Revise Marketing Objectives as appropriate. (Fall-Winter 2002-2003) Financial Incentives ❑ Offer "Up-front" financing to qualified industrial firms to meet the competition's financial offerings. (Fall-Winter 2002-2003) Location Site Process Improvements o Duckor&Associates,Inc.to conduct a 1/2 day working session with all appropriate • City of Elk River staff members to review and improve, if required, the Siting/Expansion Process. (2003) o Duckor & Associates, Inc. to draft a customer satisfaction survey. Solicit client feedback on the Location Site process by sending the survey and requesting the interviewee return survey to the City Administrator. (15 days after completion of Location Site Process services, On-going) ❑ Conduct monthly scheduled Siting/Expansion Team meetings to review status of projects. (On-going) • Duckor&Associates, Inc. 5 A BluePrint for Your Success. . .Today and Tomorrow 410 City of Elk -�-� River MEMORANDUM TO: Economic Development Authority FROM: Michele McPhers.471134rector of Planning DATE: April 14, 2003 SUBJECT: Business/Industrial Park Ordinance; Review by the Planning Commission Since the February joint meeting with the Economic Development Authority,City Council and Planning Commission,the Planning Commission has discussed business/industrial park district standards at their March 11 and April 8 workshop meetings. Attached for your review are the March 11, 2003 Planning Commission workshop meeting notes where they discussed the appropriateness of Montessori Schools/Daycares in the business park district and also discussed the industrial development concepts. The EDA should note that the Planning Commission expressed concern that there may be difficulty in siting industrial clients even with changes to the business park ordinance. At the April 8 meeting,the Commission reviewed the business park standards for competitor cities and have directed staff to draft an ordinance amendment to remove the reference to underlying commercial land use designations and to draft outdoor storage screening requirements for their consideration at their May workshop meeting. In addition, the Commission would like to explore complimentary/supporting uses for the business park district. These would be uses such as daycares,Montessori schools or limited retail. Standards would be drafted limiting the amount of these types of uses and their location in a business park district. Staff will continue to provide updates to the EDA regarding the Planning Commission's work in this regard. The draft standards will be provided for the EDA's comment prior to official adoption. 1110 • ELK RIVER PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP NOTES TUESDAY, MARCH I I, 2003 Members Present: Chair Pederson,Commissioners Anderson,Franz,Jenson,Lemke, Offerman and Ropp Members Absent: None Staff Present: Michele McPherson,Director of Planning;Scott Harlicker,Senior Planner;Chris Leeseberg,Planner 1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Greater Minnesota Housing Fund Building Better Neighborhoods This item was tabled to the April workshop, as the representatives from the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund had a scheduling conflict. • 3. Annual Meeting 3.a.. Election of Chair and Vice Chair Ms.McPherson opened the floor to nominations for the position of Chair. Doug Franz nominated Mark Pederson to serve as Chair. Leo Offerman seconded the nomination. Having no further nomination,Ms.McPherson called the question. On a voice vote, all voting aye,Mark Pederson was elected to serve as Chair until 2004. Mr.Pederson opened the floor for nominations for the position of Vice Chair. Michael Jenson nominated Dana Anderson to serve as Vice Chair. Doug Franz seconded the nomination. Nominations were closed and Mr. Pederson called the question. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye,Dana Anderson was elected to serve as Vice Chair until 2004. 4. Montessori School and Daycare in Business Park District Vicki and Chris Szews were in attendance to request the Commission's consideration of a text amendment to the Business Park District to allow a Montessori School and Daycare (educational facility)in the Business Park District. They are interested in purchasing the 6.3-acre parcel located at 18461 Twin Lakes Road. The property is currently zoned Business Park. Planning Commission Workshop Notes March 11,2003 Page 2 • The Commission discussed the relationship between the proposed service and a business park. Commissioner Franz noted that, based on the purpose statement of a Business Park,what is being proposed would be a complementary use. There are also a number of housing units in the area which,in the proposed location,would be convenient for drop-off and pick-up of children. Commissioner Lemke asked about a potential zone change with the advent of the proposed Main Street/Highway 169 interchange. The Commission noted that the proposed use is not dependent on high visibility from adjacent transportation modes and therefore the zone change would not have an adverse impact. Commissioner Anderson stated that he would encourage a text amendment with specific conditions for an educational use in order to locate the use at the edge of a Business Park area. 5. Industrial Development Concept Discussion The Commission discussed at length the information provided at the February 11, 2003 joint meeting with the City Council and the Economic Development Authority. They had concerns that even with changes,to the district regulations, it may not resolve the City's inability to site industrial clients within the community if lots are not immediately available for development. However,the Commission agreed to the following: • 1. An analysis of the industrial park and business park standards for the cites of Big Lake,Ramsey,Rogers,Otsego and Anoka. 2. An amendment to the business park standards to allow limited outdoor storage with appropriate screening requirements. 3. Review of an industrial or business park ordinance which creates "layers" of building standards within a business park or industrial park area (i.e.,requiring higher building standards adjacent to public streets, and lesser building standards on the interior of a business park or industrial park). Having no further business,the meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Michele McPherson Director of Planning • Apr 10 03 12: 56p 00000000000000000000 0000000000000 p. 2 • Gary L. Santwire 200 5th Street Elk River, MN 55330 April 10, 2003 Catherine Mehelich Director of Economic Development City of Elk River 13065 Orono Parkway Elk River, MN 55330 Re: April 14, 2003 E.D.A. Meeting Dear Catherine: I would like to request the opportunity to speak to the E.D.A at the April 14 meeting. My concerns at this time involve the following: 1) The availability of light industrial property in the City of Elk River at this time. 2) The current status of the City owned light industrial property located adjacent to the East Business Park. 3) The market value of various industrial land sites within the City. If for some reason I cannot be heard at the April 14 meeting, please let me know as soon as possible. Respectfully, Gary L. Santwire On behalf of Rivers Crossing, Inc. & Equity Management, Inc.