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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLindquist Vennum Ltr 022309 LIND QUIST&VENNUM1; Minneapolis It Denver ; LB Guthrie 4200 I DS Center (612) 371-3942 80 Sou th E Igh th Street . ' I bg u t h rie@1 i ndq u is t. co m MinneapoHs. MN 55402-2274 WW'W.!i ndq uist.com Phone; (612) 371-3211 Fax~ (612) 371-3207 . ' Febluary 23, 2009 Mark Noble, Planner II Shakopee City Hall 129 South Holmes Street Shakopee,~ 55379 Re: Case Number 08-067 Applicant Interstate Companies Dear Mr. Noble: This letter is suhlnitted to respond to attorney Karen Marty's correspondence dated February 5, 2009 ("Marty LctterU)t There are a number of inaccuraciest misconceptions and incon~ect assumptions that seem to form the basis of much of the Marty Letter~ Because of this, I believe lTIuch of Ms. Maltyt s arguments) although very well presented, simply are off point or inapplicable. I will thus not respond to the Marty Letter on a point-by...point basis, but rather conceptua 11 y. Apparently, Ms. Marty was involved in I-State LLCts 2006 application, as the Malty Letter references the 2006 matter and applicant (I..State), rather than the current (2008) matter and the currellt applicant, lnterstate Companies. I-State's requested use in 2006 did include some semi truck sales to trucking companies and individual tnlck drivers. That use) however, was placed as a pal1 of I-State's facility recently built in Inver Grove Heights and is a not part of Interstate COlnpanies' current application. That is to say, truck sales are not now a part of the use for the Shakopee site. Although I..State (and its truck sales) is not part of the current application, Interstate Companies' division, Interstate PowerSystems, is. Interstate PowerSystems plimary business centers around diesel engines9 Although the bulk of its business by far relates to the repair and maintenance of diesel truck engines (which I will address belo\v)) the bulk of the Marty Letter is devoted to attacking a small palt of Applicant's business dealing with "sales." So T, too, will start with the "sales" issues: The "sales" portion of Interstate PowerSystems' business is primarily in diesel generators for industry and businesses (not consumers). These businesses consist of schools, hospitals, local governments, commercial businesses. etc. The bulk of all sales are arranged by Interstate PowerSystems froIn the manufacturer direct to the business. In addition, Interstate PowerSystems services diesel engines (whether in trucks or as part of the generators)w Accordingly, parts for this maintenance/repair work are stored on site for that purpose. Because the diesel generators are very large, most of the servicing for the generator diesel engines will Doc# 2869687\2 Mark NobJe February 23.2009 Page 2 occur not at the Applicant's site, but at the business' site, where the diesel generators are locatedt However, some servicing will occur at the Applicant's site) and of course most of the diesel trucks are serviced on site. In addition, some of the business clients maintain their own diesel generators and Inay come to the Applicant's site to acquire parts (all of the forgoing to be ~ collectively hereafter referred to as the "Interstate Po\verSystem Use")9 The Marty Letter does not adequately describe the Interstate PowerSystem Use. Ms. Martyls lnisconception of the Interstate PowerSystem Use is evident, as she analogizes the use to a "Target Store," a pure retail use. To the contrary, the Interstate PowerSystem Use seelns to fall clearly within a permitted use of 9 11 ~44, subd. 2C of the City Code which is: Hestablishments supplying goods or services primarily to industrial usesu9 That is certainly the case notwithstanding the fact that a few small sales, of some of the smaller diesel generators to it businesses or parts to businesses maintaining their own generators, may occur. Such occasional sales do not detract from the Interstate PowerSystem Use being primarily the supplying of goods (diesel generators and parts) and services (maintenance and repair of diesel generators) for industrial uses~ The City Code defines Uretail" as 'ithe sale of goods or services directly to the ultimate consumer" (City Code S 11.02, subd. 116)9 The Interstate PowerSystem Use is not to consumers but to businesses. The Interstate PowerSystem Use does not fit within either the City's definition of "retai IU or the common conception of the word "retail" which connotes a business dealing with John Q Public, as opposed to a business to business transaction4 But even if we were to assume that the "ultimate consumer,u as used in the Code, was meant to include businesses (in addition to individuals), and thus arguably resulting in a very small portion of the Interstate PowerSystem Use constituting "retail sales" under the City Code, then the conditional use, which Applicant has requested, would apply; vizw, City Code ~ 11 ~44, subd~ 3E; "retail sales of products manufactured, fabricated, assembled, or stored on site)). In the Marty Letter it is argued that goods brought in and stored on site for the sole purpose of then selling them at retail, does not come within the scope of this conditional use. ,While that argument may hold SOlue validitYI the underlying assumption to that argument does not hold true with respect to the Interstate PowerSystem Use. The occasional parts being sold to business J - customers from the site are pa11s being stored on site primarily for use by Interstate PowerSystem in connection with its repair and maintenance operations. Thus, the condltional use would clearly encompass the Interstate PowerSystem Use. There remains, for discussion, the conditional use, which the Applicant has requested, to deal with servicing diesel engines in semi trucks, which City Code g 11 ~44, subd~ 3C would seem to require, since it would appear to fall within the meaning of "vehicle repair" (which is a conditional use). It should be noted that the repair of diesel engines is an allowable use. For exaluple, the Interstate PowerSysteln Use consisting of the repair of the diesel engines for generators (divorced from any sales) does not require a conditional use. It clearly falls within the permitted use of "supplying goods or services primarily to industtial uses"~ Tile fact that in addition to generator diesel engines, Applicant is also going to nlaintain and repair diesel engines that are within semi trucks is what necessitates the conditional use permit How does this fact, i.et that the diesel engines are within a vehicle impact the neighbors? Although it perhaps could be argued that sound from the diesel engines, and emissions emitted therefrom coul~ potentially Doc# 2869687\2 Mark Noble February 23. 2009 Page 3 have an impact (even though all the reports and other expert evaluation evidence submitted has indicated that the change and design of applicant's site plan including the additional distance from the neighborhood results in a zero/negligible impact to the neighborhood in this regard) those issues really result from the operation of the diesel engine themselves (which is a permitted use) and not due to the fact that they're within a motor vehicle. No, I believe the only real additional impact of having the diesel engine within the motor vehicle would be that it's much easier to get the diesel engine to the facility and, thus>> it would seem that a higher frequency of trucks coming to the site might be an appropriate objection. Ho\vever, even this objection does not hold \vater since the Applicant has proposed only approximately, 110)000 sf of building on 17.46 acres of land. That is only a 14.5% site coverage. A typical \varehouse/office use (another pellnitted use within this zone) would have closer to a 30% coverage, which would translate into more car and huck traffic. The traffic study suhlnitted by the Applicant supports this reasoning. Thus) it's clear that additional traffic due to this conditional use (repair of vehicles) is less than what could be permitted by the zoning for other permitted non-conditional uses. I believe the foregoing addresses the Inost serious Inisconceptions raised by the Ma11y Letter. I \vould simply note that the Marty Letter in its final paragraph) concludes that the requested conditional uses "would seriously undermine the value of [the neighbors] property and quality of their lives. U To which I would simply say that the statement is totally divorced from the facts at handl Clearly the; "supplying of goods and services to industrial uses" is a permitted use in this I-I zone; as is warehousing and wholesaling; as are office uses (City Code ~ ]] ,44, subd. 2A, C) and G). So the only appropriate questions are these: (i) does the fact that a few business owners of diesel generators will stop by the Applicanfs prelnises to purchase parts for their off site generators undennine the value of residential property 600 feet away? (ii) Does the fact that the office use is separated rather than attached to the service use, both of which are located 600 feet away from a residential property undennine the value of the property? I think to sinlply ask these questions make the answer self evident: NO. What the Marty Letter truly is arguing for is no industrial use, but the fact is, the Applicant's land is in a zone for industri al use. In sum, the conditional uses which are being requested by Applicant has no impact or any deleterious effect upon the neighborhood above that of uses which are permitted under the current zoning, and thus there is no reason for the denial of such conditional uses~ Respectfully submitted, dP LB Guthrie cc: Jim Thompson, City Attorney , Dale J t Olowa) UP Investment Paul A. Hol1nes) Pope Associates Steve Irwin, Pope Associates - Doc# 2869687\2