07/14/2011 EDAC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES DATE: Thursday, July 14, 2011 MEMBERS PRESENT: M. Keller, L. Thor, L. Masonik, L. Salzman, J. Stranik MEMBERS ABSENT: J. Schwartz, D. Johnson, L. Masonik OTHERS PRESENT: M. Divine, Paul Bengtson (part) APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of June 2, 2011 were approved. OPPIDAN PROPOSAL Members reviewed the Planning & Zoning staff report regarding the concept plan and how the grocer has addressed concerns raised by the city council and the neighborhood. P&Z held a public hearing July 13, and comments from P&Z was generally supportive for the project, but concerns they raised included traffic, transition to adjacent neighborhood, how the site is compatible with master plan, impact of new intersection on the east side of Hodgson. Mr. Tucci noted that at the neighborhood meeting the main items of concern were: size of store, hours of operation, delivery hours, truck docks and orientation of the building. Also cleaning up the 49 Club corner has come up. The revised concept plan includes a smaller size from the original plan, but 49,500 sq. ft. is the smallest their users can go. The Hugo Festival is about the same size. A smaller store requires more truck deliveries as well. Truck docks were moved to the north end of building, farther from neighborhoods, and all drive traffic is removed from the west side where it abuts the neighborhood. Store hours are 6 a.m. to either 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. Delivery hours will not be nighttime. Wells Fargo is interested in selling the liquor store and the insurance company wants what they have into it. The 49 Club is priced at a point that is not feasible to include in the project. The road access is based on 1130 feet from J. The master plan was at 990 feet. Oppidan is open to either access, but believe it will require a stoplight wherever it is. The secondary access onto J is a right in/right out, but won’t happen until further development. Mr. Tucci said TIF will be required for extension of utilities. He explained the trade area, which runs mainly east/west. Traffic studies will be included in the formal application. Ms. Keller noted the city has been talking about this for months, an article in the paper talked about how Blaine was cutting back a large development from a medical complex to a Kwik Stop. They had scaled back on their expectations, and this city needs to realize that they are not going to get the ideal uses that match the master plan. Mr. Salzman supports all the points except the request for TIF. Mr. Tucci said Oppidan would do it without TIF if the entire district was assessed. But if it’s up to the developer to do it all for the entire area, it’s unaffordable. Mr. Grochala noted there is a unique opportunity to use TIF to bring utilities by using TIF on a