An extension of a moratorium on marijuana retailers and a tax break for a county housing project were among the items that quickly gained approval from the Faribault City Council Tuesday night. A proposal to expand a tractor dealership garnered more discussion.
The conditional use permit for Matejcek’s Implement was ultimately unanimously approved, but with a long list of conditions after city staff discovered the site currently is violating multiple city rules.
The farming equipment business has occupied a corner of Highway 60 and I-35 since the 1970s and has expanded multiple times over the decades, Community and Economic Development Director David Wanberg told the council.
Now Blake Matejcek is proposing to tear down two outbuildings and build a 5,000 square-foot addition on the southeast side of the building.
The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval, but with a number of conditions proposed by staff. Matejcek asked the council to waive some of those conditions, but the council decided they should stand.
Some of the conditions address pre-existing issues. The outdoor equipment lot, for example, extends too close to Wells Lake. The required 25-foot natural buffer must be restored.
The city will also require the owner to either legally combine the three separate lots that the dealership utilizes, or apply for a planned unit development. Wanberg said the company preferred to keep them separate so it would be easier to potentially sell off the former Country Kitchen site someday.
Equipment that is being stored on a neighboring undeveloped fourth property also must be moved, or that portion of the property must be purchased or a planned unit development approval obtained.
While they conditionally approved the expansion, Mayor Kevin Voracek said he’d prefer the business relocate so the land could be used for restaurants or other businesses that would be more likely to attract freeway motorists to stop in Faribault.
“I personally feel this is the wrong business to have on the edge of a highway interchange,” he said.
The council also voted to extend its moratorium on any future marijuana retailers in the city until at least August.
It’s unclear when the state’s new Office of Cannabis Management will begin issuing licenses allowing marijuana sales outside of Indian reservations. It’s also unclear when that new state office will issue a model policy for local jurisdictions, which are allowed to enact some restrictions that go beyond the state controls.
“I think with all the uncertainty coming from the state and the fact that they still don’t have someone in charge of it all, I think that this is the right move until more clarification is issued,” Voracek said.
Tax increment financing also was approved for the county-led Twin Oaks housing development planned north of the future Rice County Public Safety Center. TIF is essentially a waiver of local property taxes for a period of years to help make a development financially feasible for a developer, which in this case is the Rice County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. The total value of the tax break is estimated at $2.7 million over 26 years.
The council approved the site plans earlier this year. The project will include 22 single-family houses that will be sold to families that have an income below a maximum restriction.
Faribault’s Economic Development Authority still needs to approve the TIF plan, and is scheduled to take that vote on Thursday.
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