12-01-25 - Council Work Session Minutes

Home Search

Council Consensus It was the consensus of the City Council to include the conditions as recommended by the Planning & Zoning Board in the CUP, with direction to staff to discuss the number of auto -use parking spaces (requested 72, council consideration of 25, 50 or 72) and to report back to the council at the December 81" Work Session prior to the regular meeting with a recommendation. Furthermore, to remove the one-year review of the CUP to instead provide review of the CUP as conditions warrant. 5. Waldoch Farm Agritourism Conditional Use Permit Amendment The City Planner reported that the applicant, Waldoch Farm, submitted a land use application for Waldoch Farm Agritourism. A Conditional Use Permit (CUP) is required for agritourism. The property address is 8174 Lake Drive Per the applicant's narrative, Waldoch Farm has been in operation since 1916. Overtime, the site has intensified in use with barnyard experiences, hay wagon rides and in 2011, the Joyer Adventure Farm and maze. Most recently, Waldoch Farm proposed to construct a new building with concessions and corn box and add a commercial kitchen to an existing building. The applicant's narrative further details current and future on site agritourism activities. The City Planner stated Waldoch Farm is considered to have a conditional use permit since it was operating prior to July 14, 1997. As they propose to intensify the use, a formal conditional use permit amendment is required. This will allow Waldoch Farm and the City to have a clear understanding of existing and proposed future agritourism uses. The Planning & Zoning Board held a public hearing on November 12, 2025 and the Board recommended approval of a conditional use permit amendment for agritourism with the following additional conditions: 1. Lake Drive shall be the main public ingress and egress to the site unless the Lino Lakes Police Department, Lino Lakes Fire Department or other government agency determines there is an emergency that warrants other temporary ingress or egress is necessary. 2. Hours of operation should be applied to the agritourism activities. After the meeting, staff asked the applicant what reasonable hours of operation would be. The applicant requests no hours of operation be applied because they have been operating for 28 years without restrictions or issues The applicant provided further background on the project. He requested that Item #6 of the draft resolution approving the CUP be removed as it requires the combining of two parcels. One is a five -acre parcel north of the house and one is south. As it stands the five -acre parcel is a buildable lot and it would not be buildable if it was combined. That Page 2 of 7