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Item No: 6A Meeting Date: March 19, 2008 Type of Business: Discussion City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate Item Title/Subject: CONTINUED: Discussion of Conditional Use Permits in Regards to the Storage of Flammable Liquids A business in the industrial park on Mustang Drive contacted the city to ask about installing a fixed above-ground propane tank on their property. This business uses propane in each of their trucks to run equipment and currently fills them at Ferrellgas in New Brighton. Since Ferrellgas is moving and there are no other propane companies nearby, this business wants to install a 500 - 1,000 gallon propane tank on their property. This brought up a discussion among staff since the city code does not state a minimum threshold amount for when a conditional use permit would be needed for storing flammable liquids above ground. The 90,000 plus gallons that was proposed by Ferrellgas seemed obvious in that a CUP would be necessary, but is a CUP necessary for every tank, no matter what size? The city code permits underground storage, but requires a CUP for above ground storage. Pertaining to flammable liquids, the city code states in Chapter 1116, Industrial District: Chapter 1116.02. Permitted uses – Flammable liquids, underground bulk storage only, not to exceed 25,000 gallons if located not less than 50 feet from a residential district. Chapter 1116.04 subd 20. Conditional Uses – Storage of flammable liquids. The fire code regulates the storage of all flammable gas and liquids except for single family properties. Any business or multi-family dwelling that installs a tank with flammable liquid, must get a fire permit and follow fire code requirements, no matter what size the tank is. These rules get stronger with more safety precautions as the tank size increases. Should there be a minimum tank size allowed before requiring a CUP? Discussion at last Planning Commission meeting: Commissioners seemed to agree that there should be a minimum size tank allowed in an industrial district before requiring a conditional use permit – 1,000 gallon tank size was proposed. The Commission asked staff to research what other cities have in their codes pertaining to flammable liquids. Overall, most cities refer to fire code regulations when dealing with these tanks, and most do not have much, if any, specific regulations for them. The Fire Code is very thorough in the regulations for any flammable liquids, including setback requirements and safety precautions. All but one of the responding cities allows these tanks only in industrial districts, which is where they would be expected. Many businesses in industrial districts have hazardous materials and flammable liquids on site due to the nature of the industries. It does seem unnecessary to require a business to