Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/05/2001

Home

CASE # REQUEST FOR A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TO OPERATE A RECYCLING AND METAL PROCESSING FACILITY; CASE OF ST. PAUL TERMINALS, INC. By: Community DeveloPment Director Sylvia Frolik Background: In 1989, the City issued a conditional use permit to Daniel Karst to operate an aluminum processing facility at 14050 Basalt St. N.W. One of the terms of the permit is that reassigrnent of the permit to someone else would require Council approval. Mr. Karst submitted a request to City Council on May 8, 2001, requesting that the permit be reassigned to St. Paul Terminals. Council reviewed Mr. Karst's file and because of a significant history of violations and the condition of the premises, the Council's preference was to revoke rather than reassign the permit. Staff was directed to initiate proceedings to consider revocation of Mr. Karst's permit and St. Paul Terminals was advised to apply for a new conditional use permit that would address the scope of their proposed operations on the site. Accordingly, the City has received an application from St. Paul Terminals to operate a recycling and metal processing facility at 14050 Basalt Street. The following items are enclosed for your information. Site location map Two-sheet site plan dated received by the City on May 23, 2001 Letter from St. Paul Terminals to the Mayor and City Council dated May 7, 2001 Letter from St. Paul Terminals to the Planning Commission dated May 25, 2001 Proposed findings of fact Proposed conditional use permit Notification: In accordance with State Statutes, City Staff attempted to notify owners of property within 350 feet of the subject property, of the request for a conditional use permit and the public hearing date. Observations: In 1999, St. Paul Terminals entered into a lease/purchase option with Dan Karst for the facility and commenced managing the facility. Since their entry onto the site, there has been a significant amount of site clean up that has occurred and recent reports from Anoka County Environmental services-indicate that the site is in compliance with environmental regulations. As of a couple of weeks ago, St. Paul Terminals ceased the intake of all materials at the site until there is a decision by the' City regarding their application for a conditional use permit. The scope of the facility proposed includes a redemption and processing center for ferrous and non- ferrous metals; melt furnaces for the aluminum; process and recycle vehicles, including the disassembly of bodies, engines, transmissions; retail sales of saleable timbers from abandoned railway. Mr. Jeff Schott, Jr. of St. Paul Terminals would be managing the Ramsey facility. He has submitted a 2 sheet site plan for Lots 1 and 2. The site plan identifies the various processing areas within the building and the yard. Part of the clean up activities conducted by St. Paul Terminals including replacing a deteriorated chain link fence with a steel fence that provides 100% opacity. That steel fence currently extends from about the middle of the building to the berm on the east side of the property and then south to within 60 feet of the east yard entrance. That 60 feet still has the pre-existing chain link fence. The steel fence commences again on the south side of the yard entrance and terminates at the southeast corner of the property. Them is no fence in place along the south property boundary and there are cement median sructures along the west property line. St. Paul Terminals is proposing to remove all steel and