March 29, 2024

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Cambridge considers limiting automobile-based businesses downtown | News

Cambridge considers limiting automobile-based businesses downtown | News

In its ongoing hard work to attract new, diverse corporations to downtown Cambridge, the metropolis council is thinking about an ordinance modification that would primarily cap the quantity of transportation or vehicle similar enterprises in just the downtown district.

During the July 5 council conference, the council read a presentation of the proposal from Local community Advancement Director Marcia Westover.

“Based on the city’s guiding files and historic discussions with regards to downtown, workers are proposing to remove all car oriented employs within the downtown and downtown fringe spot,” Westover reported.

Specific firms that would be qualified with this proposal include things like ease merchants, fix and support shops, sales and rentals, motor vehicle washes, and push-in institutions.

Westover emphasised that none of the present firms that fall inside of these categories would be requested to go.

“We have two businesses in distinct — Physician Monte’s and Steve’s Tire, they’ve performed an important position in generating the cloth of our downtown and neighborhood as a total.

“They can stay as legal, non-conforming businesses,” she reported. “They can continue to be, as extensive as extended as they adhere to point out statute. They can even be bought as-is and utilized forever as extensive as they follow that condition statute.”

She added if a business were to close for much more than a single year, then that property would be subject matter to this new ordinance. Also, organizations would not be authorized to increase.

Westover explained the city would however welcome these kind of new businesses, even so it would have to be opened in other areas of city (see map).

“As the metropolis grows, we are growing our B-2 district,” she reported. “We have a whole lot of area to develop, but we’re not going to have one more downtown district.”

When crafting this proposal, Westrom reported they seemed at other area cities who have gone through a concerted downtown revitalization energy, which includes Lindstrom, Forest Lake, and Anoka. All three of those people towns have enacted similar ordinances.

“By regulating car-oriented uses, the metropolitan areas have established noteworthy downtown locations friendly to pedestrians seeking to shop,” she mentioned.

Car Revenue Large amount Measurement May possibly Boost

A second proposal place before the council was to raise the minimum amount whole lot size allowed for auto gross sales companies to at least a person acre.

“The rationale for this is to have manageable internet sites in which owners can realistically match their autos and maneuver and have crisis lanes and not be cluttered. So it appears greater and functions for our crisis services,” Westover mentioned.

The catalyst for this proposed transform arrived from the city’s long-working legal issues with the operator of the utilized motor vehicle good deal found on North Major Street.

“If you don’t forget, the city seasoned a code enforcement case the place the great deal was far too compact and he was only authorized to have 6 cars on his ton,” she reminded the council. “He stated that wasn’t more than enough to make the company practical, so he continued to cram additional on to the great deal, causing a large amount of code enforcement issues. 

“With that boost to one particular acre, we’re hoping 40 to 50 cars and trucks can be put on a great deal,” she concluded.

As with the initially proposal, any current car gross sales heaps underneath a single acre would be authorized to keep on as a legal, non-conforming company. Westover said of the 11 present dealerships within metropolis restrictions, only four at the moment would not satisfy the one acre least.

“We do have quite a few properly-managed and interesting vehicle dealerships that have sustained Cambridge for several a long time,” Westover claimed. “We’re not making an attempt to seem down on them or anything at all. We want to maintain them right here, we are just striving to raise our functionality standards and make a much more interesting metropolis.”

COUNCIL Response

“I believe you know my reaction, I’m all for it,” explained councilmember Kersten Barfknecht-Conley for the duration of dialogue on the proposal.

“I am hoping conversations have been taking put with, like Monte, who I see is listed here so certainly he realized about this,” claimed Mayor Jim Godfrey. “I individually never want to see vacant firms downtown extra than we already have, so I don’t want to prohibit someone to the position where we destroy a community organization. Normally, I believe it is some thing we should go after.”

“It seems it’s a extremely realistic modify in the reality that existing businesses would not be penalized, which is a issue I experienced,” stated councilmember Mark Ziebarth.

“We have a method we have to go via right before we make a last conclusion,” added councilmember Bob Shogren. “So if a thing isn’t pretty proper, we can modify it or nix the whole factor.”

For his component, Monte Dybvig, proprietor of Physician Monte’s said he was all for the modification. “This has been a aspiration of ours for a long time. I’m extremely enthusiastic to see this transpire.”

Metropolis Administrator Evan Vogel explained the future methods in the system would be to deliver the amendments to the Planning Commission, who would vote on them. They would then be introduced in advance of the entire council for a last vote.