10.1. SR 12-02-2019Request for Action
To Item Number
Mayor and City Council 10.1
Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by
Work Session December 2, 2019 Zack Carlton, Planning Manager
Item Description Reviewed by
Land Use Interpretation: Industrial Development Cal Portner, City Administrator
Reviewed by
Action Requested
Provide staff and the applicant with direction regarding their proposed project.
Background/Discussion
Staff received a request for two industrial uses in the I-3 (General
Industrial) zoning district. The uses are unique and may not fit into an
existing use (permitted or conditional). Staff discussed the proposals
with the applicant and decided a concept review with the City Council
was appropriate in order to provide the applicant with some assurance
that a future application would be reviewed on the merits of the
application rather than focusing on the definition of the use.
rd
There are two proposed uses for two different properties along 163
Ave NW. The first use involves the parking of trailers, which appears
to fit as a Conditional Use under “Bus, motor vehicle, and implement
storage, maintenance and repair.”
The second involves grinding organic materials (leaves and branches)
for use on a different site. City ordinance includes two definitions that
may fit the use:
Solid waste processing facility means a facility at which solid waste is
sorted, reduced, compressed, shredded, compacted or prepared for
recycling, burning, or landfilling, including resource recovery
facilities, waste reduction facilities, refuse derived fuel facilities, etc.
Recycling processing center means land or buildings where reusable
materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, cleaned, packed, disassembled or handled,
including metal, rags, plastic, paper, cardboard, rubber (excluding tires), glass and wood products, or
where segregated waste materials are reprocessed into usable, salable products. The staging of motor
vehicles for processing off site shall be permitted. The salvage of motor vehicles and machinery parts
are not included and shall be prohibited at a recycling processing center.
The Elk River Vision
A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional
service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity
Recycling Processing Centers are allowed as a Conditional Use in the I-3 District. The definition was
created for uses similar to Lake State Recycling where larger products are broken down for recycling.
Solid Waste Processing Facilities are only allowed within an overlay district and are regulated under
Chapter 58 of the ordinance. This use is intended for the processing of waste (trash) and has been applied
to the GRE processing facility.
The applicant’s narrative is attached and staff will take direction from City Council on the interpretation of
the allowed uses in the I-3 Zoning District.
Financial Impact
None
Attachments
Applicants Narrative
Section 30-1294
Description of Project Narrative
To whom it concerns, this is our description of our planned project in Elk River Mn.
For the Parcel id’s 75/8560105 and 0110 we propose to curb, pave and fence in each parcel. On either
one of the parcels we would like to use it for semi-trailer parking. We will park up to 100 trailers in
the area. No unloading just storage for our overflow parking needs. 7- days per week operation here
at MTL companies, but we after the yard is filled up, we really don’t go back there until our customers
request the trailer back to their facility. 90% of our fast-moving trailers will be at our Brooklyn Park
Facility. This site will be used for long term rentals. We don’t want to be driving to ER on a daily basis
if we don’t need too.
No building on the site as of now.
No signage will be needed for us.
Fence screening avail upon request.
Curbed and paved.
Landscaped if needed.
The other parcel we would propose the following use; Recycle Process Center.
The material would start from our location in Brooklyn Park, MN. The material is regular leaves from
trees and small branches under 3 inches. Since we are a licensed hauler, we would haul a trailer load
up to the Elk River, at that point we would dump the load into our concrete bunker with a cement
floor. After that the material would be loaded into our shredder which is about a size of a small semi-
trailer which is on wheels. As the material gets shredded it would be conveyed into another trailer for
delivery to a partner company. The material on a scale from 1-10 smells about a 4, but we would not
stockpile the material for more than 24 hours. In turn by Friday all of the material would be off the
ground and in trailers or gone from the property.
The small composting process is only going on for 2 months in the spring and 2-3 in the fall. We only
shred our leaves and nobody else’s, so this operation would only last a few hours a day and nothing on
weekends.
No building on the site as of now.
No signage will be needed for us.
Fence screening avail upon request.
Curbed and paved.
Landscaped if needed.
One employee there to do the shredding and trucking the materials.
Storage would not exceed more than 300 yards of material
Sec. 30-1294. -I-3 general industrial district.
(a) Purpose. The I-3 district shall serve as a general industrial zone to provide area for industrial
development not requiring municipal water and sewer. This district is appropriate for
manufacturing, warehousing, and similar industrial uses because of access to warehousing.
These areas are intended to encourage the development of industrial uses which are clean, quiet,
and free of hazardous or objectionable elements such as noise, odor, dust, smoke, glare, or
other pollutants. These industries shall be compatible with each other and with surrounding
land uses.
(b) Permitted uses. Permitted uses in the I-3 district are as follows:
(1) Bottling and distribution.
(2) Business offices.
(3) Manufacturing, light.
(4) Motor vehicle repair shops.
(5) Research and development facilities.
(6) Warehouse spaces.
(7) Wholesale businesses.
(c) Accessory uses. Accessory uses in the I-3 district are as follows:
(1) Parking lots.
(2) Retail sales, provided:
a. The retail sales activity is not located in an administrative office facility, but is located
within a business, the principal use of which is not commercial sales.
b. The retail sales activity does not occupy more than 15 percent of the gross floor area
of the occupied quarters.
c. The retail sales activity is accessory to the principal use.
d. No sign identifying the retail sales is visible from the outside of the building.
(3) Signs (as permitted in section 30-851 et seq.).
(4) Structures, accessory.
(d) Conditional uses. Conditional uses in the I-3 district are as follows:
(1) Animal and poultry processing.
(2) Bus, motor vehicle, and implement storage, maintenance and repair.
(3) Chemical storage/bulk storage of fuel, e.g., petroleum.
(4) Concrete/asphalt products and processing.
(5) Commercial recreational facilities.
(6) Foundry, casting, or forging metals.
(7) Government facilities.
(8) Grain and feed elevators and mills.
(9) Kennel, commercial.
(10) Landscaping contractor yards.
(11) Manufacturing, heavy.
(12) Meat or fish packing.
(13) Ministorage.
(14) Outdoor storage (accessory to principal use).
(15) Railyards.
(16) Recycling processing centers.
(17) Salvage yards.
(18) Sexually-oriented land uses.
(19) Single-family residential dwelling units accessory to principal uses, provided that:
a. The nature of the principal use of the property makes it necessary or highly desirable
from both the property owner's and the city's perspective to have a 24-hour-a-day
caretaker or security person reside on the property.
b. The proposed dwelling unit is designed for and will be used exclusively by caretakers
or security personnel responsible for the security of the property and the principal use
thereof.
c. The proposed dwelling unit will be occupied by no more than two persons, neither of
whom may be under 18 years of age.
d. There shall be only one dwelling unit per lot or, if one principal use is located on
several adjoining lots, per principal use.
e. The proposed dwelling unit will not exceed 800 square feet in size and will be located
within a building serving the principal use of the property which is no less than 10,000
square feet in size.
f. The principal use of the property is not of such a nature that it would be dangerous or
hazardous to residents of the proposed dwelling unit.
g. The proposed dwelling unit meets all other requirements of this Code and the
Minnesota Uniform Building Code for occupancy as a dwelling unit by a single family.
The city council may, if it finds it necessary to do so for the protection of the health,
safety and welfare of persons who may occupy the proposed dwelling unit, impose
additional reasonable requirements or conditions on the construction and use of the
dwelling unit.
h. The conditional use allowing such a dwelling unit in an industrial zone is deemed to
be unique to the principal use of the property and the ownership of the property and
the principal use. Any conditional use permits granted under this section shall
therefore automatically expire if the principal use of the property changes or the
ownership of either the property or the principal use of the property changes.
(20) Truck terminals.
InterpretationLand Use
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Two different uses on two lotsGrinding sticks and leaves (yard waste) for transportrepair.Bus, motor vehicle, and implement storage, maintenance and Trailer parkingYard Waste
Site (IUP in Mining Area Solid Waste Processing Facilities (GRE)Recycling Processing Centers (Lake State Recycling)–Plaisted)
Background
Yard waste sitedistrict Only allowed with IUP in the Mineral Extraction Overlay required, for the storage, transfer or composting of yard wasteCounty, and the Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency, if –not listed in the Imeans a site approved by the city, Sherburne -3. .
Background