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Planning commission approves site plan for R and L Carriers terminal expansion at Farmington Industrial Park
Summary
The Farmington City Planning Commission approved a site plan and recommended a final plat for the Farmington Industrial Park replat that will allow R and L Carriers to expand its truck terminal. Approval is contingent on plat recording, easement vacations and meeting city engineering and permit requirements.
The Farmington City Planning Commission voted June 10 to approve a site plan for an expansion of the R and L Carriers truck terminal and recommended that the City Council approve a replat consolidating four parcels in the Farmington Industrial Park.
The action matters because the project doubles the terminal building area on the site, requires vacating easements from an older plat, and must satisfy Dakota County access requirements before building permits can be issued.
Tony, a planning staff member, told the commission the site at 526200 And Eighth Street West is zoned I (industrial) and guided for mixed use/commercial industrial in the city’s 2040 comprehensive plan. The existing terminal includes a 76,230-square-foot terminal building, a 10,029-square-foot maintenance garage and a 216-square-foot fuel building. The applicant proposes a 7,017-square-foot terminal addition and a 3,178-square-foot addition to the maintenance building; the plan also relocates the stormwater facility to the northwest corner and adds parking including two trailer parking areas at the south end of the site.
“The expansion area will match similar to the existing building as far as, facade and height. So it'll match seamlessly with what they have, at the site currently,” Tony said.
Mike Brandt, a representative for R and L Carriers, told the commission the expansion is meant to improve on-site storage and operations and is not expected to double daily truck traffic. “It really, just because you double the square footage of a building doesn't always necessarily mean that traffic will double it per se because really what they're doing is just moving stuff around,” Brandt said.
The final site plan approval was made subject to three conditions: satisfaction of all city comments in a February 20 letter, obtaining all required building and fire permits, and recording the Farmington Industrial Park replat with Dakota County and vacating certain easements prior to issuance of any building permit. Tony said the replat combines Lots 1 and 2 of Block 1 with Outlots A and B into one large lot and that Dakota County requires restricted access along Pilot Knob Road; the County Plat Commission recommended restricted access and requested a quick-claim deed to the county for that restriction before plat mylars are recorded.
On separate motions the commission approved the site plan by roll call (Roddy: yes; Snowbeck: yes; Berg: yes) and recommended council approval of the final plat with the conditions above (Snowbeck: yes; Berg: yes; Roddy: yes). Tony noted final plat approval by the council will also require execution of a development contract and payment of applicable security fees and costs.
When asked about construction timing, the applicant said the schedule depends on permitting and other factors; representatives said construction could begin later this summer or early fall, but “might go into next year. It's all dependent on a lot of things,” Brandt said.
The commission’s approvals do not authorize work until the applicant records the plat and obtains required permits and county approvals, including the restricted-access instrument for Pilot Knob Road.
Plans and the replat recommendation now move to the City Council for final action.
