The Clay County Planning Commission voted to recommend that the County Board rezone a roughly 40-acre parcel east of U.S. Highway 75 from Agricultural General to Highway Commercial and authorized preparation of a preliminary plat to create the Big Iron Subdivision, a single block with 13 commercial/industrial lots.

Planning staff told commissioners the parcel, on the east side of U.S. 75 south of 80th Avenue, has a small area of flood‑plain fringe and good crop‑productivity ratings. The applicants propose two new 70‑foot public rights‑of‑way (32 feet paved width when built), two regional vegetated stormwater ponds, private wells and on‑site septic where needed. Proposed lot sizes range from about 1.71 to 4.07 acres, with an average of roughly 2.8 acres.

Concerns raised by residents at the hearing included increased runoff and drainage, possible impacts to private wells, additional traffic on U.S. 75, noise and light pollution, and whether notice of the hearings reached neighboring property owners. An attendee asked how future intensive uses would be controlled; staff and the applicants said many higher‑impact uses would require separate conditional‑use or interim‑use permits that return to the Planning Commission and County Board for review. Planning staff noted Minnesota Department of Transportation had issued a spacing determination for the proposed access and that the developer has worked with MnDOT for about a year.

Applicant representatives described the envisioned market as contractor shops, storage yards, material stockpiling, warehousing and similar commercial/industrial service uses oriented to the U.S. 75 corridor. The applicants said they expect individual lots to be sold to businesses and that restrictive covenants and a development agreement could be used to require screening, lighting controls and road maintenance until a homeowners’ association or similar entity assumes responsibility.

Planning staff recommended options to the commission, including authorizing preparation of a final plat and either reviewing the final plat later or waiving additional review and forwarding the package to the County Board. The commission voted to recommend approval of the rezoning to the County Board and to authorize preparation of the final plat; the commission also voted to forward the preliminary plat to the County Board with a recommendation to approve.

The planning director noted there will be additional opportunities to review details — covenants, development agreements, final engineering for stormwater, and any required conditional or interim use permits — before lots are developed. The commission’s recommendation now sends the rezoning and plat to the County Board, which makes the final decision.