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City Council Minutes <br />November 1 S, 2019 <br />Page 4 <br />Marla Briggs, Briggs Companies, stated she gets an average of two or three calls per <br />month from people who want to use the site for auto sales. She expressed concerns <br />with safety due to the building being vacant and defaced. <br />Kelly Gunderson 17432 Zane Street, stated he is in favor of a car dealership <br />because he is concerned for safety and a criminal element with a vacant building. <br />Pat Briggs, Briggs Companies, expressed concerns for criminal activity at the site <br />and cited examples. He further stated, referring to a newspaper article, he came to <br />Council on May 15, 2015, regarding the land use for this property and Mayor Dietz <br />at that time was in favor of moving forward with the Skeeter Boat project because <br />the area was blighted. <br />Mayor Dietz closed the public hearing. <br />Councilmember Ovall stated he realizes the importance of a long-term vision for the <br />city but expressed concern as to what cost. He thought there may be more challenges <br />with redeveloping the site versus utilizing the existing structure. He felt the vacant <br />building is a drain on the city budget from a safety standpoint. Councilmember Ovall <br />stated the auto sales use would be of minimal investment for the developer, help <br />create jobs, increase safety, remove blight, and enhance the value of the property, <br />and therefore would improve the tax return without any tax increment financing <br />funding. He stated he sees the merit of both options but leans toward making a <br />concession to the applicant as it would be a faster fix and faster return to the city. <br />Councilmember Christianson stated that auto sales is a logical use of the property. <br />Councilmember Westgaard disagreed stating because auto sales may have been a <br />logical use a decade ago, doesn't mean it's the right use now. He stated the Focused <br />Area Study explains why the property is guided for high density residential and the <br />long-term planning for the greater area. He stated traffic from this property would <br />have to travel down to the Broadway Pizza access with additional access points to <br />Highway 10 being closed. He discussed the bluff river view advantage. He noted <br />Council has wanted and known of the guidance for this property since 2010. He <br />stated Council shouldn't change plans and discard all of the time and effort put into <br />the Comprehensive Plan because activity doesn't happen quickly. <br />Councilmember Westgaard stated the developer could prepare the site for high <br />density residential by taking down the building and making it shovel ready if he feels <br />the existing lot and building are an issue. He further noted the city nuisance <br />ordinance could be implemented if the building is a drain on city resources. He <br />stated the applicant had a high density project a few months ago and he is puzzled by <br />the change. He stated he is not in favor of auto sales because it is not the best use <br />and intent of the property. He stated it is not consistent with what the City Council <br />has guided for the area. He stated the applicant has had plenty of opportunity to <br />develop the site for the correct use and still believes it is a viable option. <br />� <br />OtiIAEI er <br />INI ATUR <br />