Commission approves rezoning, allows U‑Haul rentals at Paradigm Auto with paving condition

The Brainerd Planning Commission voted to approve rezoning the Paradigm Auto property at 310 West Laurel Street to a Makers and Employment zoning district and to recommend a zoning text amendment to permit vehicle and trailer rental (U‑Haul style) businesses in that district.

Community Development Director James Krambick said the property currently operates with parked U‑Haul trucks on unimproved surfaces and that staff concluded the rezoning and the text amendment would make the use compatible with surrounding industrial and railroad-adjacent properties. Krambick said the property is in the Shoreland District and that proposed paving would remain under the shoreland impervious-surface limit; the DNR reviewed the request and raised no objections for this application.

Staff recommended conditions including a requirement that the new parking area be paved with asphalt or concrete and completed by July 31, 2025, that lighting be downcast and hooded, and that off-street parking be physically defined and set back three feet from property lines. Krambick told the commission that staff proposed allowing the use in general commercial, makers and employment, and general district zoning, but as a conditional use in the commercial corridor district.

Owner Al Schmidt (L. Schmidt in the record) said he intends to finish paving this summer but asked for council flexibility if contractor availability delays work beyond the July 31 deadline. “I wanna get it done before the end of the summer… I’m just asking that we can keep that July 31 in there,” he said, and requested allowance to seek an extension from city council if necessary.

Patrick Metzler, who said he recently purchased Paradigm Automotive, testified that local access to vehicle rental helps Brainerd residents and businesses. “Removing us having the ability to service people via rental of U‑Haul, the next closest place is Baxter,” he said, arguing a local rental option serves residents and incoming customers.

A commissioner asked staff to remove a proposed subsection (c) of the draft text amendment that would have introduced an alternate outdoor lighting standard; Krambick agreed that staff could remove that line and otherwise hold the use to the standard lighting code. The commission approved the rezoning and the text amendment with the paving and lighting conditions, and included language allowing the council to extend the paving deadline if contractor availability prevents completion by the date specified.