6.0. EDSR 02-11-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Economic Development Authority Minutes June 11, 2007 Page 2 O tion A Includes a variety of lot sizes, including three big box lots (10-17 acres), three smaller commercial lots, and 9.57 acre industrial parcel in the southeast. The plan includes aright-in off of Highway 10. The smaller commercial lots are served via a `backage' road between Highway 10 and Ulysses. Option A has the greatest impact to existing wetlands, and a big portion of property west of Ulysses is used to mitigate these wetlands. An additiona111 acres of wetlands would need to be mitigated elsewhere. Option A requires the mitigation of 12.14 acres (24.3 acres). O tion B Shows two big box retail sites immediately adjacent to Highway 10, sized 19-28 acres. This plan provides more land for industrial sites, although any of the lots on any of the plans could conceivably be converted to industrial uses based on size. The plan also utilizes a right-in off of Highway 10. This plan has slightly reduced impact to the wetlands, requiring mitigation of approximately 9.64 acres (19.3 acres). Any access off of Highway 10 would require MnDOT approval. O tion C Includes small ancillary commercial lot in the NW corner, two big box lots along Highway 10, and 5-9 acre commercial sites on the east side of Ulysses. A 12-acre industrial site is located in the SE corner. There is minimal impact to wetlands (1.1. acres) requiring only the creation of 2.2 acres. This plan effectively requires the acquisition of the Weicht property. President Gongoll indicated that Commissioner Tveite was unable to attend the meeting but provided his comments via email. President Gongoll shared these comments. He stated that Commissioner Tveite's preference is Option B with the revision from "big box" to "commercial" to allow the city as much flexibility as possible to address potential users. Commissioner Tveite also prefers Option B because of the industrial presence away from the Highway and near the RDF plant. President Gongoll explained that Commissioner Tveite would like to the city to reach out to private land owners to verify their plans and see if they are willing to work with the city on land acquisition. Commissioner Tveite also noted in his email that even though the market survey wasn't optimistic about commercial/retail along Highway 10, he believes the highway offers an asset down the road (i.e., 5 years) and he would want to keep an eye towards this use fronting the highway. President Gongoll concurred with Commissioner Tveite's comments. Commissioner Klinzing stated that Option B best reflects what she would like to see. She believes the area will be valuable for commercial and likes the size of the lots. Commissioner Motin questioned if staff could check with Cargill and see if they are interested in developing their portion of the neighboring property in the future. He stated that he was leaning towards Option A but has no problem with Option B. President Gongoll indicated that he believes the best option is for the city to have discussions with the property owners to see if they are interested in selling. He stated that if the city owns the property then the city has the flexibility of when the property is developed. Mr. Barnhart stated he felt that single ownership was necessary for the efficiency of the development. He noted that if the city purchasing the neighboring land is not an option, the city may want to consider selling their property to a neighboring landowner in order to create a larger parcel.