3.5. SR 03-19-2007
City of
El -
River
City of Elk River
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
Agenda Section Meeting Date
Consent March 19,2007
Item Description
Request by Linders Greenhouses for General Planning Permit -
Tem ora Greenhouse
Item Number
3.5.
Prepared by
Sheila Cartne ,Senior Planner
Reviewed by
Jeremy Barnhart, Planning Manager
Location
Elk River Plaza 804 Freeport Avenue
Introduction
Linder's is requesting a general planning permit for a temporary greenhouse/garden center in the Elk
River Plaza parking lot.
Attachments
. Request for Action
. Site Plan
Action Reauested
Staff is recotntnending the City Council approve the request with the conditions as outlined.
City Council Action
Motion by _
Second by _
Vote
Follow Up
Case File: GP 07-01
Page 2
Overview
The applicant is requesting a temporary greenhouse from April 15th to July 15'h. The greenhouse will
be located in the same location as in 2006, in the parking lot north of Buffalo Wild Wings. There
were no issues last year reported to the City.
The applicant would like to expand the size of the greenhouse from 3,024 square feet to 5,760
square feet allowing more room for a walkway and protection to the greenhouse.
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of the General Planning Permit request for a temporary green house in
the parking lot of Elk River Plaza for Linders Greenhouse, as indicated on the plans dated received
February 20, 2007, with the following conditions:
1. No electrical services shall be across any drive or walking surface.
2. If traffic becomes a problem around the temporary site, the sales area shall be
delineated with a barrier to restrict traffic.
3. The greenhouse/garden center be maintained free of debris and kept in an orderly
condition.
4. The location of the greenhouse is consistent with the submitted site plan.
5. The greenhouse and display area be removed by July 22, 2007 (within one week of
the end of the sales period) and the site be returned to its previous condition.
Respectfully Submitted
S\v;2t\- ~
Sheila Cartney
Senior Planner
S:\PLANNING\Case Files\2007\GP\GP 07-03 Lindcrs Grccnhouse\CC report 3 19 07.doc
Flower Mart Division
275 W. Wheelock Pkwy
SI. Paul, MN 55117
651:255-0417
Fax: (651) 255-0444
E-mail: .f1owermarts@linders.com
GREENHOUSES, GARDEN CENTER & FLOWER MARTS
JeremyBamhart
Planning Manager
'City of Elk River
. 13065. Orono Pkwy.
Elk River, MN 55330
February 19,2607
Dear Mr. Barnhart,
. .
Please consider this letter with the attached applicatiori form, documents, and information, to be our
.' application for a Land Use/General Planning Permit. The request is being made to be able to
operateaLinder's"Flower Mart" atthe Elk River Plaza Shopping Center at ?04 Freeport Ave.
r have attempted toprovideenoughinformati()n for you to cOmplete the process. . .
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r hope this is what you need to process ilnd issue the appropriate permit.
ABOUT LINDER'S: . . . .
Linder's is a family business and hasbeeri growing~d selling high qllality flower and vegetable
plants for over 90 years; We groW most everything we sell other thai! nursery stock and have two.
large growing locations: St. Paul and Lake Elmo.. W e op~rate a year-round garden center in St.Paul.
. .ouring the last eighteen yearswe have developed our "Flower Marts". ~dhave placed them
throughout the Twin Cities. Last year we operated at forty six differenUoc[luons. During our .
season we sell all types of annuals, perennials, hanging baskets and other products for use in the .
. home garden. Because we are wellknovvn as a quality grower many gardeners seek usout to supply
their planting needs. Locating in areas around the pities weare able to serve our customers better. It .
is also an opportUnity for neighboringbusil1ess owners to provicietheir cust()rners with quality
flower and vegetable plants conveniently nearby. Our customers have given us a tremendous
welcome and lo()k forWard to our retUrning each spring. . . .' .
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We grow quality bedding plants as well as other seasonal product~ for. s*both wholesale and -.
retaiL Linder's guarantees all our products and because we are a year,roundbusiIiess, ourcustolllers
can come to us even afterourrem()te "Flower Marts" have closed forthe seasOn. '. We take great
pride iIi our ."Flower Marts" and are very proud of our reputation and do everything possible t() be'
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the. best in this market;' . . " . '
. ,
LOCATION: . .' '. '. '. .. ....'. ..,. ..... "ifD ,.....
The site is in the east area of the parking lot (see plot plan). The area needed is 144 ft by't:l ft. It is
5760 sq. ft.. The parking places in this lot are. 9 ft. by 18 ft, based onthis information the "Flower
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Mart" will temporarily occupy approximately 16 places. We believe this to be a good site selection
for several reasons. First it is distant from the front of the other stores and out of the main stream of
tr:iffic, both pedestrian and vehicular. It also gives the "Flower Mart" better visibility to the public
without obstructing the visibility of the other neighboring businesses. Being in this portion of the
. lot also keeps it away from most of the tr:iffic in the lot.
TRAFFIC: .. . . . .. ..
With regard for vehicle traffic, the "Flower Mart" is placed in the selected location in order to keep
anytr:iffic disruption to a minimum. The patio areas at the front, side and back serve to protect the .
"Flower Mart" from vehicles and lets the drivers see around the garden center. The patio fence is
ab()ut 4 fthigh. This design has.been used at our "Flower Marts" for several years and we have yet
.to have had a problem with vehicle movement. We feel thatthis is a safeway to deal wjthvehicles.
PARKING:
We have designed the "Flower Mart" aSa single wide unit and placed it as we did within the area .
. shown because we feel that this is the most Ilrofessional design and uses the available sIlace to its
maximum potential; Linder's has operated "Flower Marts" successfully for eighteen years in
. communities surrounding the Twin Cities. Itlias been our experience that the traffic and parking in
the lots shared by the "Flower Mart" is not affected considetablydue to the sharing of custOmers
wit.h oUr property owner. We bring in many custom. ers but th..ey are easily hand.led by the size of the
lots we occuIlY. We do not want to create a congestive atmosphere for our customers.
. .
. The "Flower Mart'" generates business activit)' which varies during the business day with the most
activity occurring in late afternoon and evening. There is also business activity occutringon the
. weekends with the most on Saturdays. Having done this type of operation fot eighteen years it .
would be safe to say that the average amount in the "Flower Mart" at anyone time is about five to
six customers. The maximum amount of customers may be up to ten. There are certainly times.
when special sales occur that higher levels of activity mayoccur, but we have never seen so much
that a problem has occurred in relation to the amount of cars or pedestrian traffic.
THE "FLOWER MART":
The. "Flower Mart" itself is 84 ft long, 21 ft wide, and. 12 ft high. There are pa!io/displa)'areas in
the front,side and rear of the "Flower Mart". The entire size shown on the drawing included;
The "Flower Mart" itself is a high quality. greenhouse structure which sits on the pavement and is
held down with an internal. system which uses water for ballast.. It is aconimercially made unit
which is manufactured by a Minnesota company (Poly- Tex, located in Castle Rock, MN). It is a
very good looking structure which we have used for many years. .. ..
. SIGNAGE:
We will compl)'.withthecurrent sign requirements ofthe City oJ'Elk River. '
. UTILITIES: . . . '. .'
Our only utility requirements 'are reasonable access to water for the plants and no volt electricity
which runs the cash register and other small items in the "FlowerMart".
This power will come from a light pole in the lot nearest the "Flower Mart". We have no lightillg'
permanently installed in the "Flower Mart". Linder's takes away all discarded material and
unnecessary items on a daily basis. We strive to maintain a clean and professional appearance.
Water is the other utility:we need. This is needed to care for the plant material at the "Flower Mart".
" . The source of water is from the underground watering system. A tap is installed in the spring in the
10catiQlljust 1;0 the east of the "FlowerMart". We only need the equivalept ofa standard gardening
hose to care for the plant material.
THE SPRING SELLING SEASON:
We anticiNte the 2007 selling sea~on tobefrom April 15 thruJuly 15. We usually startto set up
" ,py March 15. The "Flower Mart" is takim down and totally removed on the closing day of the
season. We clean and sweep the location in the parking lot so that once we are gone there is no.
evidence of our having been there. .
OUR HOURS: . . .' . .' .
Our hours are 8:00 AM until 8:00 PM weekdays and 8:00 AM Until 8:00 PM on most weekends.
We typically have tWo to three employees dnring weekdays and tIuee to four during weekends. We
are open seven days a week dnring the season. The "Flower Mart" is closely supervised by a
Manager lqld several District Managers as well as myself, who keep it stocked and operatfug
. cleanly and efficiently. We make every attemptto employ persons from the community, .
THE MARKET:
We feel that the Elk River area is an excellent area to locate a Linder's "Flower Mart". We are well
knownip the entire Twin Cities area and many of our .customers ah:eady come from the Elk River
area to our year-around Garden Center as well as other "Flower Marts. This is art oppornmity to
continue. serving our Elk River customers with a nearby convenient shopping location where they
can buy qllality plant materials from a local Twin Cities grower. Weare experienced in this kind of
dperiltion and feel that we are doing an excellent service for our customers and our surrounding
commUnities.
1 have tried to provicleenough information about Linder's and our proposal to satisfy any questions
you mayliave abou1; Linder's doing business in Elk River. We are eager to be a part of beautifying
this area of the Twin Cities with Linder's grown flowerS. and plants. You can always reach me at
612-685-7993. '
Sincerely,
......c;-~:5eACYJ-- .
Caio Cella
Division Manilger ~ Flower Marts
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Linder's Flower Mart
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DATE RECEIVED
d/Jc/07
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