06-12-1985 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 9, 1985 northwest wsociEted consAtEnts, inc. Ms. Beverly Scalze Council Member 969 Beam Avenue Little Canada, Minnesota 55109 RE: Little Canada Industrial Development File No: 758.09 Dear Bev: At last night's Council meeting during the discussion of one of the auto body repair shop licenses you asked me why Little Canada attracted sucti- r+ businesses. I did not have an opportunity to respond to this question which I believe deserves some thought in recognition of what the City is attempting to accomplish in the Centerville Road area. It is in fact my opinion that while Little Canada does attract a number of quality industrial developments, it also has more than its reasonable share of questionable operations. We see two basic reasons for this situation. The first is that the City's development standards are minimal. The second is that the Council is too lenient on development approvals. Having minimum standards to begin with initiates interest by marginal, under capitalized operations. This situation is further compounded by the granting of exceptions or time delays. A prime example of this situation was the approval given the Custom Coaches Bus Operation last evening. If I under- stand correctly the approval which was given, the company has been allowed to put off blacktopping their parking area until 1986. Most communities which engage our services would not have allowed the occupancy of the building until the blacktop was installed, or at the very minimum required a security to assure completion of the work. This philosophy of the City basically works to attract businesses which more often than not have a poor chance to succeed. Lacking sufficient capital they can little afford "frills" and as a result buildings are typically poorly maintained. While in some cases poor maintenance and upkeep is a lack of personal pride, more often than not it is a factor of no money. Carle Landscaping is a case in point. 24