ATTN: ALL CITIZENS, ESPECIALLY THOSE ON 225TH, DODD, AND CEDAR !

Did you know that there is a work group that has been meeting and discussing the idea of forming some commercial/industrial areas/uses in Eureka? This group has already met for at least five meetings. The most recent was scheduled for and held on Monday, October 22, from 7-9 p.m. Another is scheduled for October 31, 7-9.

The work group consists of Planning Commissioners Ralph Fredlund and Al Novacek, as well as Board Supervisors Mark Ceminsky and Butch Hansen. This group, notably, was formed during a Board meeting with the latter three "diving in headfirst," and Commissioner Fredlund volunteering to round out the group.

There has been mention made several times in the last few meetings that the other members of the Planning Commission were never even given a chance to indicate an interest in being a part of this work group. That's because if they weren't at that particular Board meeting when this was discussed, they didn't even know about it yet! (In fact, since this blog post came out, a Commissioner reminded me that the whole topic was added to the agenda the night of the meeting. Therefore, most did not know ahead of time it was even going to come up that night!) This did not sit well with the other Commissioners. They have asked for more "transparency."


It has also been discussed that "nobody" knew when and where this small group was meeting. I have attended three meetings to date, along with one other Commissioner and two other citizens who attended October 22. Other Commissioners have wanted and even tried to attend an earlier meeting, but were told there would be quorum issues or that the meetings still were not posted properly to allow them to attend. The posting should have allowed them to attend the meeting on the 15th, but it wasn't done properly, it was decided by Hansen and Ceminsky. Thankfully, this appeared to be rectified for the October 22nd meeting.


These meetings are open to the public (now that you know about them!). Audience members are allowed to listen and observe, but so far have not been allowed to contribute any input or comments during meetings. It is in the work group's ability to request this, especially in its early stages. At the end of the last meeting, a citizen asked a few questions which were attempted to be answered.

You should know that at some point, there will be Open House(s) held to gather public input. Of course, I would hope that the group's work would first be presented to the Board for its input before going to the public. The work group has said that it will present its work to the Attorney as well as to a Planner------yet to be contracted for this project. (TKDA is the Township Planning/Engineering firm.)

Watch for postcards to be sent regarding the Open House(s).

Since you will be asked for your opinions, and since this affects the entire Township, it would be a good idea for citizens to educate themselves about the work this small group has done and the topic before us. I am hopeful that at some point this will be available on the Township website for your convenience. Thus far, nothing has been available for public view during the meetings even though documents are being worked on and discussed.



To quickly summarize some of what has been discussed thus far, I will attempt to give some information on two points: different levels (and zones?) of commercial and industrial activity and whether or not the Township is going to ask the Metropolitan Council to be allowed to hook up to sewer and water. Anything reported here is not written in ink yet and may change, perhaps drastically.

The levels of use that have been looked at are light industrial, heavy commercial, general commercial, and neighborhood commercial. I will give a couple examples that have been mentioned of each:
light industrial: distribution center, lumberyard, trucking companies, bulk mail
heavy commercial: 24-hour gas station, optical manufacturing, cabinet shop, auto painting
general commercial: bowling alley, pet shop, mortuary, furniture upholstery
neighborhood commercial: doctor's office, barbershop, gas stations that are not 24-hour

It was reported that up to 1500 acres north of 225th from east to west across the Township, or acreage along Dodd, or along Cedar, or south and near Jacquard Avenue when/if extended by Lakeville into the Township, or along the railroad tracks from Lakeville south to 240th St. W. are all being considered as possibilities.

It has been said at the group that land will not be zoned C/I unless and until the landowner asks for that change. The first question that pops into my mind upon hearing that is how does the Township deal with the issue of spot zoning. Spot zoning, as you may know, is not permitted. Uses should be together and buffers next to adjoining uses are needed to separate the uses and mitigate negative effects.

It has also been stated that the only C/I use that can abut residentially used land is neighborhood commercial. And that commercial buildings may not be any closer to a residence than 250', similar to agricultural buildings now.

The uses would "step" thru the four categories of intensity according to the "plan." In other words, the uses wouldn't go from a machine welding shop to a residence right next door. Or from a lumberyard right next to a doctor's office. These juxtapositions are missing a level of intensity in between them and thus are not "stepped." How much and where area is taken for each level of use is open to question in my mind. These are all topics being discussed.

Butch Hansen has indicated that he thinks sewer and water would still be desirable for any of these uses. He is of the opinion that a proposal has never been formally submitted to the Met Council. Well, that is probably correct insofar as the Met Council representatives (including the gentleman in charge of sewer issues) who attended the March 29, 2016, joint Planning Commission and Town Board meeting have told us what is necessary before they would even consider such a proposal. This meeting centered to some extent around the airport annexation possibility, but touches on sewer and water as well. FIND MINUTES HERE. Since these requirements were never addressed, there could be no formal submission to request sewer and water.

The Council representatives have also submitted details to the Township as to what such a request would require. You may have heard some talk of 1,000 acres set aside for much higher density housing (possibly 3/acre) and other uses and NOT just commercial/industrial. In other words, the government unit requesting sewer and water hookup is proposing making a definite move toward urbanization. Of course, the Met Council, which has Eureka as agricultural and without urban services until some time after 2040, can always turn down a community's request. They just won't even start to consider it until the acreage location, along with sewer plans, etc., have been submitted, which hasn't happened yet. A "sort-of" attempt was made a year or so ago, while Hansen was pushing for it, but the Met Council indicated that what was submitted was insufficient and the forms were not even filled out entirely--as I remember it.