Request for an Interim Use Permit to Allow for the Operation of a Church in the H-1 Highway 10 Business District on the Property Located at 6701 Highway 10 NW; Case of Northern Light Church

The City has received an application for an Interim Use Permit from Northern Light Church to allow for the operation of temporary church facility in an area zoned H-1 Highway 10 Business District. The Subject Property is also located within the Official Map Area for the Highway 10 corridor.  The temporary church facility will be in a multi-tenant building (generally known as the Youth First building) located at 6701 Hwy 10. The Applicant would like to utilize the space for weekly worship services, educational programs and community outreach programs. 

In accordance with State statute, Staff attempted to notify property owners within 350 feet of the subject property of the public hearing via Standard US Mail. The Public Hearing was also noticed in the Anoka County Union, the City's official newsletter for public notices.

The Applicant is interested utilizing the western half of the building's office area (roughly 4,900 square feet) for its operations.  The building has roughly 10,000 square feet of office space (the other roughly 5,000 square feet is being utilized by Youth First) plus cold storage space behind the office area.  The Applicant is proposing to utilize the area for worship space as well as for offices and educational and community outreach programs.  

The primary activity on this site would be worship services, which would occur on weekends and would likely be either Saturday evening or Sunday morning.  Attendance is estimated to be about thirty (30) people initially with the hope of growing to about fifty to seventy (50-70) members.  Other offerings being contemplated by the Church include an evening bible study group (likely around ten adults or so) and/or a vacation bible study (possibly around 20 kids and several adults).  Any larger, planned activities would likely still be coordinated and held at their Anoka location, which is designed to accommodate a much greater capacity then this site. 

The existing uses of the building include Youth First and cold storage.  Youth First typically utilizes their portion of the building only during the week (and occasionally on Saturdays) and the cold storage operation may have customers throughout the week including weekends, but by appointment only.  It should be noted that Northern Light Church has partnered with Youth First on various activities in the past and there may be potential for more joint offerings with this location.  It doesn't appear that the proposed use would conflict with the existing uses on the site and it appears to be compatible with the surrounding area.

The parking lot that serves the building has a total of twenty-six (26) striped parking stalls (this includes two handicap spaces). There is the ability to potentially add an additional fourteen (14) stalls around the median within the parking lot, which would provide a total of forty (40) parking spaces.  Under City Code, places of assembly require one parking space for every three seats. Based on the projected overall attendance (70 people), a total of twenty-three (23) parking stalls would need to be provided.  While there appears to be sufficient parking area, Staff believes it may still be beneficial to stripe additional parking stalls along the median to clearly demark designated parking areas.  The Applicant shall provide the City a floor plan that indicates seating capacity as background to ensure the proposed use does not expand to a capacity that would exceed the available off-street parking.  The City has received concern from existing tenants regarding the location of off-street parking in certain areas and conflicts with access to portions of the site.  Staff believes this concern can be mitigated with the above referenced striping and monitoring of the number of off-street parking spaces required.

The proposed church operation does represent a change in use (from retail to place of assembly) and therefore, will require fire suppression.  The Applicant is currently negotiating a lease with the City (current owner of property) and they are aware of the fire suppression requirement. 

The Applicant is requesting the Interim Use Permit for a term of thirty (30) months.  At that time, they would evaluate their operation and whether the location is working out.  If, at that time, they determine that the location is working, Northern Light Church would need to apply for another Interim Use Permit to continue operating at this site.  

The request was forwarded to Mn/DOT for review and they stated that they have no comments/concerns regarding this request.

All costs associated with reviewing the application are the responsibility of the Applicant.

Staff recommends approving the request for an Interim Use Permit contingent upon striping of additional parking stalls and installation of a fire suppression system prior to occupying the building.

Motion to recommend that City Council adopt findings of fact relating to Northern Light Church's request for an Interim Use Permit to allow for a church operation in the H-1 Highway 10 Business District.

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Motion to recommend that City Council adopt Resolution #________ approving the request for an Interim Use Permit and declaring the terms as proposed.

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Motion to recommend that City Council deny the request for an Interim Use Permit based on the findings of fact.