A new business is slated to come to the south business park while another will expand, following a Cottage Grove Plan Commission meeting Feb. 24.
Still pending council review, the plan commission held a site plan review for a new Kwik Trip off Jamaica Avenue at 95th Street South, as well as a public hearing for a conditional use permit related to a fence for Lumberman’s in the Northpoint Logistics Park.
As for Kwik Trip, a 9,176 square-foot store is coming to the southeast corner of 95th Street and Jamaica Avenue, complete with an 800 square-foot, 10 dispenser fueling canopy. The new store will be located on a 2.3-acre portion of a 6.77-acre land parcel. Two variances are included with the store application: one to allow the parking lot setback to be less than 10 feet from the side yard property line and another to allow LED light banding around the exterior of the fuel canopy. City ordinance limits the amount of light that can be emitted into adjacent properties to one foot candle, a photometric plan submitted for the store that meets those requirements. The gas station uses a system for its fuel tanks with monitoring and double wall protection, a system that has passed in wellhead protection areas, per meeting comment. Three driveways of varying widths will open onto 95th Street South, while a right turn in and out will connect to Jamaica, while the city’s LP-3 regional stormwater pond is connected hydraulically to the site.
The application by Kwik Trip is set to be reviewed at the March 19 city council meeting, a 60-day review deadline starting Jan. 30 when the application was received and expiring March 31.
Now a vacant lot owned by WAG Farms Inc., the city’s Economic Development Authority has a purchase agreement with WAG Farms for simultaneous closing on the store site, allowing for development. Kwik Trip anticipates hiring 25 to 30 new employees to operate the store around the clock seven days a week once complete. Gas stations are permitted with a conditional use permit in the General Industrial Area, making the station in line with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. A viaduct for an unnamed stream tributary will pass underneath the Jamaica Avenue right turn in, connecting with an unused wetland portion of the 6.77-acre total site. The wetland will be used in calculating park dedication acreage.
As for the Northpoint Logistics Park, application by Northpoint BGO Cottage Grove Logistics Park LLC will see a 10-foot-tall privacy fence enclosing 54,500 square feet of the western parking area for a future tenant named Lumberman's. The fence to be located at 7701 100th St. S. will allow for outdoor lumber storage at the site and is set to be acted on at the March 19 city council meeting, with a 60-day application review deadline expiring March 30.
As for the soon to be tenant expansion off 100th Street South, Lumberman's is a building materials distributor headquartered out of Grand Rapids, Mich. Lumberman's obtained conditional use permit approval in 2023 to use a portion of the south parking lot at 7601 100th St. S., later granted to expand from the original staging area under the conditions of Resolution 2024-004. The additional area had an increased fence height from 6 to 10 feet. The space will utilize 249,949 square feet for material storage and office space, in addition to outdoor materials storage.
Also covered at the Feb. 24 Cottage Grove Plan Commission meeting was the answer to an earlier query from the Plan Commission, given in light of the planned Lochridge development. Assistant City Engineer Crystal Raleigh laid out the basics in a city memo, as follows:
The County currently has a Request for Proposals out to study the Jamaica Avenue (CSAH 20) corridor between 70th Street and Military Road. The roadway was reconstructed by the City in 2015 due to development at that time. It was anticipated that the County would eventually take over the roadway due to increases in traffic from future Woodbury and Cottage Grove developments along the corridor. Development of the Wolterstorff property is needed to obtain the adequate right-of-way for the County to take over the and reconstruct the intersection with Military Road. Now that this development is coming to fruition, the County has initiated the study and is planning to reconstruct the road in 2028. The 2025 study will look at the scenario in which Woodbury and Cottage Grove are fully developed in accordance with their future land use plans. The study will evaluate and make recommendations on the following:
• Lane configuration for the future CSAH 20. Two, three, and four lane configurations will be considered.
• Intersections and turn lanes for cross streets such at 67th Street Court/Jasmine Avenue
• Intersection design for the Military Road intersection. The study will evaluate whether a roundabout is appropriate in this location
• Pedestrian facilities facing the corridor.
• Other transportation considerations specific to anticipated traffic along this route.
Cottage Grove and Woodbury will be contributors to this study. Upon completion of the 2025 planning process, a conceptual plan will be developed, and the project will move into the design phase. The County will construct the recommended improvements for 2028.
Jamaica Avenue became a County roadway in 2018. It will remain under County jurisdiction for the forseeable future. The City is not anticipated to retake jurisdiction after the 2028 reconstruction.