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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes June 4, 2012 Page 6 Mr. Rob Lundeen, 3912 Fordham Drive NE, stated he does not understand what was done and felt everyone should have received a copy of the Options. He asked if this property would be tax exempt and if the entire building can become an assembly. Interim City Planner Corkle stated they will be limited to the area of the building petitioned. 6 Commissioner Crone stated it is about 10% of the building and she has friends who will attend 7 the assembly. A copy of the report was available at the City Hall office for interested residents. 8 Mr. Lundeen stated currently there are 4 -5 tax- exempt properties in the City. Once a property 9 becomes tax exempt, it will not be changed to non -tax exempt. 10 11 Mr. Lundeen indicated he did not believe other businesses would want to share the building with 12 the assembly. Commissioner Jensen stated land use changes throughout the state all the time. 13 The Planning Commission is not to speculate on land values, etc. Commissioner Jensen stated 14 the Planning Commission made the decision to let this move forward to the City Council for 15 final approval. Mr. Lundeen stated industrial areas should be kept for industrial. 16 17 Ms. Judy Makowske, 2919 Rankin Road, stated she has two issues to discuss and had notified 18 the City Manager regarding those issues. The first one is notification, which has been brought 19 up. The other issue is traffic. She is concerned about traffic and getting in/out of the apartment 20 building. 21 22 Mr. Sadik Warfa, 620 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, thanked the Planning Commission for 23 recommending approval of the CUP. His community will be very happy with this decision and 24 he is proud to be an American. Mr. Warta asked that the Council approve with no changes, 25 noting they are only requesting tax- exempt status for their small portion of the building. 26 27 Mr. Khadar Abdi, 1247 St. Anthony Avenue, thanked the Planning Commission for their 28 recommendation to the City Council. He stated they come as guests to St. Anthony and the 29 Planning Commission has been very gracious. He feels visitors to the center will visit area stores 30 and pay taxes on what they buy. He hopes their presence will add value to the City and to the 31 properties. The Muslims were pioneers and brought many benefits to the world. Mr. Abdi stated 32 they will be the best neighbors to the area. 33 34 Mr. Lary Rannalla, 3224 Renken Road, asked if at a later date a request can be made to expand 35 their center. Commissioner Jensen stated if the Planning Commission's recommendation is 36 passed it would be unlikely it could get any larger. Mr. Rannalla asked if this would be 37 considered a community center. Chair Heinis stated the number of people capacity would be 38 covered by the zoning code. Mr. Rannalla asked if they would be able to meet until late hours 39 into the night and Chair Heinis said if they were on their own property. 40 41 Mr. Ali Giarush, 6220 132nd Street N., White Bear Lake, stated everyone has their rights to be a 42 non - profit tax- exempt property. There are many Muslims in surrounding areas and the other 43 centers do not draw crime to the area. He indicated he is proud to be part of this transaction. 44 45 Mr. Robert Lundeen asked who owns the building and why is this such a big secret. Chair 46 Heinis stated it is public record and can be obtained from Hennepin County.