Consider Approving a Home Occupation Permit at 7230 175th Ave NW; Case of Mabel LLC

The purpose of this case is to consider an application for a Home Occupation Permit for a concession company at 7230 175th Ave NW (the "Subject Property"), including the outdoor storage of vehicles. Carmen Schmitz, Amy Schmitz, and Jake Hoffman (the "Applicants") of Mabel LLC (the "Occupation") have properly applied for the Home Occupation Permit (HOP) and are requesting approval of their business proposal.

Notifications of this proposal were sent via Standard US Mail to Property Owners within 350 feet of the Subject Property for the public hearing with the Planning Commission on March 24, 2022, as reflected by Anoka County Property Records. A notice was also published in the Anoka UnionHerald, the City's Official newspaper for the Planning Commission meeting. 

General
The Subject property is located at 7230 175th Avenue NW. The Subject Property is zoned R-1 Residential (MUSA) and is approximately 12.39 acres in size. Abutting properties to the east, south, and west are also zoned R-1 Residential (MUSA), but properties to the north across 175th Ave are zoned R-1 Residential (Rural Developing). This property is in close proximity to the North Brook Meadows and Trott Brook Crossing developments.

Summary of Request
The Applicant is seeking permission to use the Subject Property as a base for their concession company. Plans for business operations would include:

• Storage of several vehicles and pieces of equipment including:
  • Camper (26 feet in length)
  • Concession trailer (21 feet in length)
  • Supply truck (20 feet in length)
  • Food truck (26 feet in length)
  • Pickup truck (20 feet in length)
• Storage of business supplies and concessions
• Utilize one (1) nonresident employee
• Expansion of the current accessory structure with the purpose of vehicle, equipment, concessions, and materials storage indoors

The Applicants would store the vehicles, equipment, materials, and concessions in the detached accessory structure to be brought to future events for vending services. This would result in a single round trip throughout the week, during weeks when they have scheduled vending events.

The business typically operates during the summer, running from May through September, as this is the busy season for this type of business. Deliveries could occur once per week at the most, but likely once every few weeks, in a standard courier sized vehicle. Occasionally, they do take the supply truck to pick up food orders as well which could involve another round trip. The concessions will be prepared and loaded into the vehicles prior to departing the property.

Level II Required:
Although their proposal does not exceed the standards of the administrative permit by many categories, Staff believed the Level II HOP was required based on the following criteria received in their questionnaire outlining their proposal:

• Use of more than one (1) commercial vehicle. The Applicant listed five (5) vehicles related to the business in their proposal.
• Large quantity and frequent food delivery services are not typical of a residential neighborhood

Planning Commission - 3/24/2022
The Planning Commission recommended the City Council approve the Home Occupation Permit for Mabel LLC, without restrictions on hours of operation based on the nature of the business.

Alternatives:
Alternative 1: Approve the Home Occupation Permit (HOP) as presented. Most, if not all, of the vehicles and storage would be concealed within the accessory structure with few round trips throughout the week. The Planning Commission recommends this alternative.
Alternative 2: Approve the Home Occupation Permit (HOP) with additional conditions. Staff would be supportive of this alternative if specific conditions need to be applied based on discussion.
Alternative 3: Deny the proposed Home Occupation Permit. The Planning Commission does not recommend this alternative. 

The Applicant is responsible for all costs related to this request. 

The Planning Commission recommends approving the Home Occupation Permit.

Motion to adopt Resolution #22-067 approving a Home Occupation Permit for a concession business at 7230 175th Avenue NW.