Cannon Falls council agrees to lead environmental review for large development; debates gravel-driveway variance and approves outdoor sales permit

The Cannon Falls City Council voted Tuesday to serve as the responsible government unit, or RGU, to oversee an Alternative Urban Area-Wide Review, or AUAR, for a large development proposed on land partly in Randolph Township and partly in the city.

Why it matters: The AUAR is an environmental review process that will evaluate multiple development scenarios for the property and identify mitigation measures the developer must meet if the project proceeds. Making the city the RGU gives Cannon Falls the lead role in receiving the draft documents, conducting public comment periods and bringing the final environmental review and mitigation plan back to the council for adoption.

City staff described the process and timeline. A city staff member said the purchaser would fund the consultant, attorney and engineering costs through an escrow arrangement the city previously approved. Ashley Payne, a consultant with Kimley Horn, said the AUAR will include two public-comment periods — first for a scoping document that describes what will be studied, and then a 30-day public-comment period on the draft AUAR and mitigation plan — and will be returned to the council twice: once to order preparation of the AUAR and again for final adoption of the environmental review and mitigation plan. “What’s in front of you tonight is just to approve the City of Cannon Falls to be the responsible…