01-28-2004 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Xcel Energy- 3000 Maxwell Avenue Newport, Minnesota 55055 -1001 December 19, 2003 Mr. Joel Hanson City Administrator City of Little Canada 515 Little Canada Road East Little Canada, MN 55117 -1633 SUBJECT: Little Canada — Ramsey Substation 3064 Rice Street (intersection of Rice & Woodlyn) CUP Application/Temporary Vehicle Parking Request Dear Joel: Enclosed please find Xcel Energy's completed Conditional Use Permit (CUP) form which we are submitting to the City of Little Canada to request on -going temporary outdoor storage /overnight parking for tree trimming vehicles. Xcel Energy purchased the property located at the intersection of Rice and Woodlyn in the early 1950's and our substation went into service in either late 1954 /early 1955. The city of Little Canada adopted its first zoning ordinance in 1964. We are currently zoned B -3 (general business) and it is my understanding following our meeting on November 17, 2003, that the city is in the process of making a text amendment to the zoning ordinance. This text change will allow for outdoor storage /overnight parking of vehicles as a conditional use. Your recommendation to us was that we apply for a CUP to request temporary overnight parking of vehicles. I recall in past discussions with you that the city's position has been that the parking of our line clearance vehicles was not related to the operation of our substation. Our line clearance activities are directly related to the operation of our electric delivery system. For example, this past summer when a tree came into contact with our overhead lines in Hastings, the interference tripped back to the substation and we lost the entire city's electric supply. This is a prime example of how our line clearance activities can affect substation operations and inconvenience your residents and business owners. While we believe that our company vehicles and those of our contractors have "grandfather" status since we have been temporarily parking those vehicles on site prior to the enactment of the city's formal zoning ordinance, we are submitting our CUP application to demonstrate our willingness to work in good faith with the city of Little Canada.