Council approves 7 Brew temporary outdoor event permit after neighbors and applicant reach traffic assurances

The Apple Valley City Council on June 11 approved a temporary outdoor event permit for 7 Brew’s grand-opening promotional activities at 15440 English Avenue, with final approval made contingent on the city engineer signing off on a traffic control plan.

City staff (Carter, speaker 9) told council that prior 7 Brew openings have generated high vehicle queuing that extended into public streets, and that staff coordinated with the applicant, area businesses, the police department, Dakota County, and a traffic engineering consultant to develop a plan prioritizing safe vehicle circulation and emergency access. Carter said the plan would include specific routing for customers and off-duty police officers as traffic control and that associated costs would be borne by the applicant.

Neighbors raised concerns that led council to request clarifications. Aditi Bhavani, owner of the McDonald’s on English Avenue, said the turn approaching the site "does get very tight" and expressed difficulty visualizing how dedicated lanes or stop-and-go controls would preserve access to adjacent businesses. The mayor read an email from Dr. Laurel Chaffin of Chaffin Vet (read into the record) that warned shared single-lane operations could block appointment-based access for clients and urged a private inflow or re-striping if necessary.

Tim Chaffin (speaker 8), representing the applicant, responded that the operation would keep cars within the site and "will not allow any cars to queue outside of the lot," that the on-site configuration would be reworked to two lanes in and one lane out for the event, and that upper-level management (not baristas) would be stationed in reflective gear to actively manage queue flow and prevent blocking adjacent entrances. Chaffin said he would be on-site during opening events and that the applicant is coordinating with HealthPartners and adjacent businesses for cross-access parking where appropriate.

Council members asked follow-up questions about lane assignments, whether the off-duty officer could manage the queuing, and how long traffic controls might be required; staff and the applicant said measures could be extended beyond July 5 if necessary and that the city engineer would approve a final traffic control plan before the permit took effect.

The motion to approve the temporary outdoor event permit — moved by Councilmember Bridal and seconded by Councilmember Melander — passed unanimously, with the approval explicitly conditioned on city engineer sign-off of the final traffic control plan. Council and staff said they would monitor openings and be ready to adjust striping or extend controls if access problems arose.