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<br />“Your well-built project begins with and endures on Firm Ground” <br /> <br />Firm Ground Architects & Engineers Inc. 612.819.1835 <br /> <br />275 Market Street, Suite 368 info@firmgroundae.com <br />Minneapolis, Minnesota 55405 www.firmgroundae.com | Follow us on <br /> <br /> <br />August 16, 2016 <br /> <br />Site Plan Variance Request <br />3250 Spruce Street Little, Canada, MN <br /> <br /> <br />Lapham-Hickey <br />Lapham-Hickey is a regional steel fabricator with multiple locations in the Midwest area. Founded in <br />Chicago in 1926 they are ranked as one of the top 30 Service Centers in the USA. They supply a variety <br />of Ferrous and Non-Ferrous materials. Over the years, they have added value added services such as cut <br />to length, Oxy Fuel/Plasma cutting and surface conditioning while continuing to look for opportunities <br />to better service their customers. Year to date they have processed roughly 6500 orders with a customer <br />base covering the 5 state region locally. With their other 7 locations, they ship to customers throughout <br />the lower 48. Their history attests to longevity and continued growth. <br /> <br />Lapham Hickey Expansion <br />Lapham Hickey seeks to expand 2 of 3 bays of their production floor in order to increase the <br />volume of their operations. In the past few years, the demand for steel fabrication has increased <br />considerably in the metro area and Lapham Hickey’s current space is inadequate in keeping pace with <br />this demand. In the existing warehouse there are three overhead cranes used for moving large steel <br />pieces across the facility to various machinery for different processes. The proposed plan would be to <br />expand two overhead crane bays to extend the production floor <br />165 feet. In order to make this plan feasible, it needs to utilize <br />the existing crane infrastructure. To accomplish this, we are <br />limited as to where an addition can be placed. On the plans <br />provided, we show the existing crane and how adding on to the <br />tracks determines how the building is situated on the site. <br />Following the existing tracks, the addition ends up being 7 feet <br />off of the eastern property line instead of the 15 feet required <br />by the zoning ordinance. <br />To continue Lapham’s current operation without this <br />variance, the only option to comply with the 15 foot setback <br />would be to build a new crane runway in the addition. <br />However, this option would be prohibitively more expensive <br />and would not be compatible with the day to day operations of <br />manufacturing. If the bays were broken up into 2 cranes, <br />workers on the production floor would be unable to move large <br />pieces across the length of the building which would be a <br />substantial obstacle to operations. <br />Lapham Hickey is also requesting a variance for a <br />breakroom addition on the north portion of the existing <br />building. This location for the breakroom is ideal for the