The Crookston Planning Commission met in the Crookston City Hall Council Chambers on Tuesday evening. The agenda included a variance request and a conditional use request for two businesses.
1590 CARROLL STREET VARIANCE REQUEST-
Otter Tail Power Company’s Derek Snyder requested a variance at the Otter Tail Power property at 1590 Carroll Street for a Solar Panel Array. The array would be in front of the current building, which is 60 feet by 100 feet long. The solar panel array would be a small 40 KW AC at 13.2 feet wide by 138.4 feet long, south of the existing building.
The project will help Otter Tail Power meet state requirements. “This is primarily to stay in compliance with the state,” said Otter Tail Power’s Derek Snyder. “We were asking for a variance on our property setback as we are looking at utilizing the existing infrastructure that is there. There will be more coming out with the direction the State of Minnesota is going and this is kind of the first step in that.”
Snyder said Otter Tail Power already has three solar panel arrays in Karlstad, Brooks, and Calloway, and more will be coming to northwest Minnesota.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the recommendation to the City Council.
1504 UNIVERSITY AVENUE – TOBACCO STORE CONDITIONAL USE REQUEST
Syed Mahmood is in the process of purchasing the property at 1504 University Avenue (the former Cofe and Chickadee Coffee location to open up a Tobacco/Vape Store. Mahmood attended the meeting via phone and said the shop would sell tobacco products like cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and other tobacco products and E-vape products.
“We want to make sure this tobacco shop has a purchase agreement in place prior to the conditional use being forwarded to the City Council,” said Crookston Building Official Greg Hefta. “We talked about the parking issue that is at the building and the space that is available along the side of the building, but most visits will be short term visits to minimize that impact.”
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the recommendation to the City Council.
