PC Packet 08-21-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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fy oT �� ' B GHIO N th,,city that writs For you Memo Date: August 10, 2012 To: Planning Commission From: Janice Gundlach, City PlannerJb Subject: Follow-Up Report on Bell Pole Nonconforming Use Permit The Commission may recall, in October of 2011 Bell Pole obtained Site Plan and Nonconforming Use Permit approval to build a second story office addition at their property located at 778 1st ST NW. The company constructed the building over the spring and summer and the project is now complete. At the time of approval of the building addition, condition #4 of Resolution 11-100 stated the following: "The applicant studies the use of dust curbing chemicals deeper within the storage yard to mitigate dust during the summer months and study mitigation methods to curb the off-gassing effect poles stored within the yard are having on overall odors and report back to Community Development staff by January 31, 2012 and to the Planning Commission at their regular meeting in February 2012. Examples of off-gassing mitigation methods may include covering the poles and/or reducing the overall stock of poles on site." The purpose of this memo is to provide the Planning Commission with an update on the company's progress in addressing issues mentioned above. The City has had a long history of zoning and regulatory discussions with Bell Pole over the years. Because the company has been in New Brighton since the early 1920's, it pre-dates much of City's municipal and zoning codes. That does not mean it is free to do whatever it wants, rather the company has some inherent rights that allow it to operate differently from other industrial businesses. Perhaps the most well-known issue concerns odor and to a lesser extent dust. To be more direct, the company has the right to produce a certain amount of odor, some of which leaves the property. This has been a difficult issue to regulate and the parties have taken a cooperative approach to reduce odors to the greatest extent possible. In 2007, the City entered into a Memorandum of Understanding concerning odors. At the time, a significant amount of research was done and improvements were made by Bell Pole to eliminate detectable odors leaving the stack of their treatment facility. A key point is that Bell Pole asserted it had grandfather rights