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Council reviews industrial concept plan at Dayton Parkway and 117; no binding action taken
Summary
Developers presented a concept for a 200,000 sq. ft. warehouse and distribution building on ~32 acres near Dayton Parkway and 117th Avenue; council offered advisory feedback on truck circulation, building orientation, and future roadway and utilities but took no formal vote.
City staff and a developer team presented a concept plan for an industrial development near the Dayton Parkway roundabout and 117th Avenue North, and the City Council reviewed the project and offered advisory comments but did not vote on permits or entitlements.
The developer, Optin Investment Company, represented by Jay Moore, described a first-phase plan for a roughly 32.25-acre property with a proposed 200,000-square-foot speculative warehouse and distribution building, truck loading docks on the north elevation, office parking on the south side and about 38,000 square feet of outdoor storage on the southeast corner. Mark Anderson, civil engineer with Somnitec, described grading and stormwater considerations, and City planning staff (Seth, city planner) outlined required future permit steps including platting, rezoning to I-1, circulation exhibits, conditional use review for outdoor storage and landscape/screening requirements.
Councilors and the planning commission focused discussion on three recurring topics: building orientation and visual screening, how the site would affect future alignment of Dayton Parkway and the proposed extension of 113th Avenue, and how water/sewer service would reach the site. Several council members and commissioners endorsed the applicants’ plan to locate truck docks on the north side and to use berming and landscape buffers along Dayton Parkway to screen truck activity from the roadway. One council member urged flipping the building so the “front” elevation faced the Parkway and truck parking was away from the Parkway; the developer said reversing the layout would require additional fill, raising the building about three feet and likely affect project feasibility.
On access and future connections, planning staff and the developer showed a possible eastward alignment for 113th Avenue that could ultimately connect East French Lake Road to the Dayton Parkway roundabout; staff said right-of-way and alignment work is already under review. Water is available under Dayton Parkway on an existing large-diameter main; sewer would require an extension from the southeast corner of the nearby business park and is expected to be a separate city-contracted project. The developer said early surveying and feasibility work for a sewer route could begin this year and construction might be possible in winter conditions to reduce wetland impacts; financing and assessment plans were described as “to be determined.”
Landowner Madhu Kolan spoke by phone to confirm availability of land for access. Members of the council and planning commission asked staff to study the larger area east of the site (land use and roadway options) before final development entitlements are requested; staff indicated the planning commission had already directed a study of the parcels east of the proposed site. The presentation and discussion were advisory: staff and applicants were seeking council guidance rather than approvals; no rezoning, plat, or conditional-use motions were made at this meeting.
The council’s immediate next steps are to provide written comments to the applicant and to direct staff to pursue a broader study of the land use and roadway alignment east of the Parkway that would inform any rezoning, platting and utility extension requests. Developers indicated they would proceed with more detailed engineering if the council’s direction and planning feedback remain supportive.
Key technical clarifications from staff: the site would need a circulation exhibit showing internal truck maneuvering, outdoor storage would require screening consistent with the zoning ordinance, and an extension of sewer would likely be a separate city-funded or city-contracted trunk project with potential developer credits for upsizing. The timetable discussed by the developer suggested survey and preliminary alignment work this year with possible construction of sewer under frozen conditions in a winter season; those dates are conceptual and contingent on financing and permitting.
Council and planning commission members said they wanted a coordinated, near-term discussion (workshop) to study the larger area around East French Lake Road and the eastern parcels and to ensure that future roadway and sewer corridors are not blocked by premature development choices.
