The Crookston Planning Commission met Tuesday evening at the City Hall council chambers and discussed a conditional use permit and variance permit request for townhomes on 6th Avenue North and Sunny Street.
The property is owned by Steinbrink Construction LLC and Robin Steinbrink and represented by Elliot Steinbrink. The Steinbrinks are looking at building two separate townhomes. City Ordinance allows townhomes on the property. The reason for the conditional use permit request was that the owner would like the ability to sell individual units for the future if desired.
“The conditional use request is basically just to allow townhomes on that sunny street in 6th Avenue North. It’s basically a little bit different construction than, say, a twin home or a duplex. There’s a little bit more fire protection required, a little more in the roofing, and a few other things associated with townhomes there,” said Crookston Building Inspector Greg Hefta. “The reason for that is they want to sell them individually later on or have the possibility of selling them individually. And to do so, you need separate utilities as well, gas, water, sewer, and any other items to be run through the units. So again, that’s just a clarification.”
The variance request is to allow a shorter setback. In the zoning ordinance, the front yard setback is 25 feet, whereas the Steinbrink request is for 15 feet back along 6th Avenue North. There is existing housing down the road that is currently 15 feet off the property line. “They requested a variance on 6th Avenue North that they’re going to be 15 feet away from the property line on the north side of the property, but basically just for one of the units, not both,” said Hefta. “It was just for clarification and or ease of making better use of the lot that’s there.“
The Planning Commission decided to recommend moving both requests forward to the City Council for a vote. If approved, the additional townhomes would provide a larger selection of housing units in town.
