01-28-2004 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Xcel Energy- 3000 Maxwell Avenue Newport, Minnesota 65055-1001 January 21, 2004 TO: Mayor Mike Fahey Councilmember Matt Anderson Councilmember Bill Blesener Councilmember Jim LaValle Councilmember Rick Montour FROM: Colette Jurek, Manager — Community & Local Gov't Relations Dennis Fallon — Vegetation Management Team Leader SUBJECT: Conditional Use Permit/Temporary Overnight Storage Ramsey Substation Site @ 3064 Rice Street Dear Councilmembers: We recently submitted a conditional use permit application to the City of Little Canada to request temporary overnight storage (vehicle parking) at our Ramsey substation site located at the intersection of Rice Street and Woodlyn Avenue. The city's planning commission reviewed this permit request at its January 8th meeting and voted to recommend that council deny the permit request. Steve Grittman provided a written memorandum dated January 6, 2004, to the planning commission members summarizing his reasons for recommending permit denial. Although I was listed as copied on the document, I did not receive a copy of the memorandum until I was at the podium addressing the planning commission members. Later in this memo I more thoroughly address the concerns raised by Mr. Grittman and the planning commission. First, I'd like to summarize the issue, how we've worked with city staff on this to date, and the win -win outcome I believe we can reach. o We completed construction of our substation in the 1955/1956 timeframe. Overnight parking of vehicles whose use is accessory to the substation — specifically tree trimming vehicles - has been an ongoing practice since that time. During years when we do use vehicle parking on our property, we average 6 -10 trucks for a period of six to nine months o We believe the city's 1964 zoning process incorrectly categorized our substation as B -3 General Business which does not allow outdoor storage /overnight vehicle parking. We feel that this property should have