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Home My WebLink AboutPC81010 - 1/29/81 - 6870 Shingle Creek PkwyF_.1,.., JING COMMISSION FILE File Purge Date: 816f95 FILE INFORMATION Project Number: PROPERTY INFORMATION Zoning: PLAN REFERENCE Note: If a plan was found in the file during the purge process, it was pulled for consolidation of all plans. Identified below are the types of plans, if any, that were consolidated. • Site Plans • Building Plans • Other: FILE REFERENCE Note: The following documents were purged when this project file became inactive. We have recorded the information necessary to retrieve the documents. Document Type Date Range Location Agendas: Planning Commission Office Minutes: Planning Commission i�Z`i/� 3Z/8 City Vault Minutes: City Council 2�4�g� , 8%/s� City Vault Document Type Number Location Resolutions: Planning Commission City Vault Resolutions: City Council City Vault Ordinances: City Council 8 r - iN City Vault COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY FILES CHECKLIST CITY 1 r ,OK.T c .aTE • PLANNING COMMISSION ZONING APPLICATION Application No. 81010 Please Print or_jy2C3_early Street L.-cation of Property 6870 Shingle Creek Parkway 6800 Shingle Creek Parkway TractL Tract B, Legal. Desc_.r iI? ttxon of Property Registered Land�Su� rUX Nc�,,1 99 _ Registered Land Survey #1360 Owner, Howard E. Johnson Polo Investment Company Address 310 Fourth Avenue South, Suite 200 Phone No. Applicant Classic Electric Car Corporation Address 310 Fourth Avenue South, Suite 200 Phone No. 339- 35 35 Type of Request: Rezoning I Subdivision Apprcval. Variance Site & Bldg. Plan Approval Special Use Permit X Other: Description of Request: Finding and determination from City Council that the proposed use in similar in nature to other permitted uses in the I-1 District. Fee $ no gharge Receipt No . _ ClaV* Ele9ki-jc Car Corpo cant r� Signature JaKuary 19, 1981 Date PLANNING COMMISSION RECOA1:ENDATION Dates of P.C. Consideration: Approved. Denied this day of i ,,�^, 1� 19 '� 1, subject. to the following conditions. �,�� 21 :/,�. �� % -4- i GhallMar_ CITY COUNCIL ACTION Dates of Council Consi.de -anon: Approved X _ Denied ci _r -_.. this day of 13 , With the followingarncnd:-m..zlt'._-__�___.�..._______.._____.�._.._..._..._.._..�._.__.____,..__________..._,.......�._._.___.._.___ ._.__,......�.__.__._..._....�_.._. .. P/1 Fox�,n No. 18 (over CLASSIC ELECTRIC CAR CORPORATION January 13, 1981 Mr. Gerald Splinter, City Manager City of Brooklyn Center 6301 Shingle Creek Parkway Brooklyn Center, Minnesota 55430 Dear Mr. Splinter: Classic Electric Car Corporation has developed an electric car which it proposes to assemble and market as a completed vehicle. Classic Electric Car Corporation proposes to set up a pilot assembly operation in Palmer Lake Plaza and 6800 Shingle Creek Parkway, to start production of the electric vehicle. As the volume increases, Classic Electric Car Corporation is contemplating use of the barn and hippodrome at the Farm for expanded production facilities. We have spoken to Mr. Gustafson about this use and he agrees that this may be a feasible way to save and restore the key farm building while putting them to some economic use. Classic Electric Car Corporation intends to put its metal shop parts depart- ment and chassis line in 6800 Shingle Creek Parkway and do the final assembly of mating the body and chassis in Palmer Lake Plaza. The assembly of these vehicles is much like some other assembly operations which have taken place previously in Brooklyn Center. We are advised that Arctic Cat had a facility which assembled snowmobiles and that McCulloch Industries did some assembly work. TCR Headed Products presently manufactures screw products and Audio Research makes high -quality stereo amplifiers. The Classic Electric Car Corporation assembly process is precisely that--assembly--of component parts purchased from other vendors. Classic Electric Car Corporation does not manufac- ture engines, frames, or other related components, but assembles them with the end product being an electric vehicle. It is a clean process with no obnoxious odors or dirt. Ron Warren and you have seen our facilities in Plymouth and the activities to be performed in Brooklyn Center will be very similar to that which you observed. We hereby request a determination by the City Planning Commission and City Council that thes activities fall within the parameters of permitted uses in the 1-1 one an; not inconsistent with past and present occupancies. i S i nce y yours, Gary Courn a ,,President CLASSIC ELECTRIC CAR CORPORATION GC/co Planning Commission Information Sheet Application No. 81010 Applicant: Classic Electric Car Corporation Location: 6870 Shingle Creek Parkway Request: Finding that use is permitted in I-1 district. The applicant requests that a finding be made by the City Council that the assembly of electric cars is similar in nature to other uses permitted in the I-1 district. Section 35-330:1(f) of the Zoning Ordinance provides for "other uses similar in nature to the aforementioned uses, as determined by the City Council" (see Section 35-330 attached). There is no clear precedent of a similar determination by the City Council in the past. Therefore, the matter is being brought for review at this time. Also, there is no new construction involved with the present appli- cation, only the occupancy of tenant spaces in the Spec. 8 and Spec. 6 industrial buildings (6870 and 6800 Shingle Creek Parkway, respectively). The applicant has submitted a letter (attached) in which the activity is briefly described and compared with other uses which have been permitted in the I-1 district. Among those past permitted uses listed, two (TCR Headed Products' screw manufacturing and Audio Research,manufacture of stereo amplifiers) are expressly permitted by the Zoning Ordinance. The assembly of snowmobiles by Arctic Metals is not expressly permitted, but the total range of activities at Arctic Metals was apparently considered to fall within the category of manufac- ture of fabricated metal products. If the proposed use is to be considered a permitted use in the I-1 zone, it should be similar in nature to the manufacture of fabricated metal products as illustrated by various product types (Section 35-330:1 (a) (9). The products contained in that section include: Office computing and accounting machines Household applicances Electrical lighting and wiring equipment Communication equipment, including radio and television receiving sets Electronic components and accessories Screw machine products. These products certainly suggest small scale, light manufacturing. The assembly of electric cars may or may not involve processes which go beyond the general classification suggested by the Zoning Ordinance. The City Manager and the Director of Planning and Inspection had an opportunity to review the electric car assembly operation at the company's current location in Plymouth. The operation involves taking reconditioned Volkswagon chassis, outfitting them with a number of batteries and then attaching already manufactured single unit fiberglass bodies to the frames. The process also includes the necessary mechanical work to make the unit operational. The assembly is done in teams rather than an assembly line process. Also viewed, at a different site in Plymouth, was the fiberglassing operation where car bodies are repaired. The assembly operation viewed (not the fiberglassing) is, as purported by the appli- cant in his letter, a relatively "clean process with no obnoxious odors or dirt." 1-29-81 -1- Application 81010 continued The staff's primary concern is that the manufacturing or assembly be as viewed and as the applicant indicates and not evolve into the more traditional automobile manufacturing plant. A key to making a recommendation on a finding may be that this assembly operation involves electric automobiles, not gasoline propelled automobiles, and does not involve the manufacture of engines, frames or other related components, but rather the assembly of these parts only. The staff would recommend that the Commission question the applicant and obtain any further information or clarifications it feels is needed to make a finding of whether this use is or is not similar in nature to other uses permitted in the I-1 District. It is not recommended that automobile assembly plants in general be allowed in the I 1 District. In evaluating the proposed use, there are certain parameters set down in Section 35-413 of the Zoning Ordinance which any I-1 use must comply with. Aside from buffers and setbacks which apply to buildings, thereare a.list of require-. ments relating to noise, odor, vibration, glare and heat, wastes, and outdoor storage. At the property line of the use in question: noise from the use cannot exceed 40 decibels (as measured by equipment meeting the specifications of the American Society for Testing and Materials); toxic noxious or odorous matters may not be detected; and vibrations, glare and heat may not be detected beyond the limits of the immediate industrial site from which it originates. Whether these protections are meant to apply to neighboring industrial tenants within the same building is not clear. However, there seem to be adequate private incentives in such situations to control or resolve any problem. The Planning Commission may feel that an ordinance amendment acknowledging this specific use would be more appropriate than a clearly documented finding that the proposed use is similar in nature to other uses within the I-1 District. In either case, it is recommended that a clear understanding of this manufacturing process be gained and documented before any positive recommendation is made to the City Council. 1-29-81 -2-