10.2. SR 06-07-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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t4MWIt i1�n^ ota Municipal Flower Ane — MMPA Project Narrative MMPA owns and develops land for the benefit of its member communities, including Elk River. The Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA) owns 386 acres of land it proposes to develop. 301 acres of which is within the City limits of Elk River. The remaining 85 acres abutting the northern City limits in Livonia Township. Current zoning for the parcels is Residential (R1-a) and Commercial Reserve Transition (CRT) and does not support the long-term economic development that MMPA envisions. 1-3 Permitted Uses: Section 30-1294.b of the Zoning Ordinance identifies the permitted uses of the 1-3 General Industrial district. The permitted uses include specific uses such as business offices and research and development. Conditional uses include a broader range of uses from heavy manufacturing to foundry, casting, or forging metals. At this time, some of the high-tech industries that are desirable are not allowed as a permitted or conditional use (e.g., Datacenters). A text amendment may be required to achieve the desired use. Aside from the alignment with the overall purpose of the 1-3 district, it is also desirable as uses are not required to connect to city water or sanitary services. Proposed Use Description: As stated, this proposed project is intended to support the MMPA's goal of supporting economic development for its member communities. Though no specific developments are currently identified for the subject property, the MMPA is pursing a zone change to create shovel ready sites that would increase energy use within the MMPA system, while also bringing new jobs to the community and serving as a catalyst for future economic development. The MMPA would like to purse a zone change to 1-3 — General Industrial for the subject property to allow for the development of high tech industries (e.g., advanced manufacturing and datacenters). MMPA recognizes that a change to 1-3 permits a range of industrial uses, but these uses may not meet the primary development goals of supporting economic growth and increasing power usage. Though specific development details for high tech industries are unknown at this time, the following table outlines the development details requested per the Concept Review Application for datacenter developments as an example. For reference, four datacenters located in the Twin Cities metro have been highlighted in Attachment A. These examples provide a reference for the aesthetics and building materials generally found in the datacenter industry. Page 3 of 7