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Special Use Permit – Pioneer Paper Stock of MN Planning Commission Report; 7-18-23 Page 4 Applicant’s Narrative:  Project Overview Pioneer Industries, Inc (dba Pioneer Paper Stock of Minnesota) is applying for a Special Use Permit to operate at an existing industrial building located at 600 Lakeview Point, previously owned and operated by H. Brooks & Company. The single-story building is approx. 110,716 square feet, on approximately 11.52 acres of land. The property is zoned I-1 Light Industrial. The purpose of this application is to seek a Special Use Permit to operate the facility in accordance with our specific use described below. The proposed paper recycling operations do not technically fall within the list of permitted uses for I-1 zoning, nor do they for an I-2 district; however, it more closely resembles other I-1 Light Industrial uses. Pioneer Paper Stock has provided a detailed explanation of their operations to support our request below. We are also proposing minor building and site improvements that are more fully described below.  Site Context The property is within an established industrial area generally bounded by I 35W on the east, Long Lake Rd / Old Hwy 8 SW on the west, Co. Rd D on the south, and Lake Jones on the north. Our specific property along Lakeview Point is zoned I-1, the same as most other surrounding properties in the industrial park. Undeveloped industrial land, zoned I-2, also abuts our property to the north, next to Lake Jones. A city water tower is immediately to our west; and beyond that there are multi-family apartment buildings facing Old Hwy 8 SW and 5th St SW, zoned R-3A, but those apartments do not abut our site. Railroad tracks to our east serve the industrial park, but not this site; and further east is I-35W. The building has front offices facing west and south, with the loading dock area on the east side facing the railroad tracks and interstate highway. The only other building sharing the dead-end Lakeview Point is another I-1 industrial development, so no residential or commercial traffic drives past our site.  Proposed Use and Operations Pioneer Industries, Inc. (dba Pioneer Paper Stock of Minnesota) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pioneer Industries International, Inc., one of the most reputable and well-known commercial recycling companies in the industry. We have recycling operations in Minnesota, Chicago, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Dallas. Pioneer Paper Stock has been in business since 1894 in Minneapolis. Our current owner purchased the company in 1974. Pioneer’s main business is to service the printing industry and commercial cardboard compactor companies by taking their loose scrap paper products and packaging them in a form where they can efficiently be shipped to a mill where they will further be pulped and manufactured into a finished product. Our business is essentially a repackaging business to provide recycled paper supplies for the paper mills. We also provide shredding services for customers that require their materials to be destroyed before they are baled and shipped to the paper mills. Accordingly, our paper handling operations do NOT fall within the city’s I-2 district list of Permitted Uses