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Planning commission to consider rezoning so Grand Marais school can lease office space
Summary
Representatives for the Great Expectations Foundation asked the Randall and Maria Planning Commission to draft code changes that would let the foundation lease unused classroom space for offices; commissioners agreed to develop language and hold a public hearing at the next meeting.
Tim Kennedy, who said he was "assisting with the request for the rezoning, from the, you know, Great Expectations Foundation," told the Randall and Maria Planning Commission that the foundation wants to lease surplus classroom space to office tenants but faces a zoning conflict: the property sits in R-1 (which allows schools but not offices), while nearby parcels are zoned Highway Mixed Use (HMU), which allows offices but not schools.
Staff and commissioners discussed options, including amending the HMU code to explicitly allow schools and daycare facilities and then pursuing a concurrent map amendment. Commission staff cautioned that changing the map before adjusting code language could create a nonconforming use; as staff put it, the commission could "change the language and then change the map, and it's all gonna work out" only if the sequence is handled deliberately.
The commission examined practical impacts such as setback differences if the parcel changed from R-1 to HMU. Staff noted that commercial setbacks (a 50-foot buffer) could apply to future commercial uses but that in this location the 66-foot public right-of-way between properties would likely absorb that buffer. Commissioners debated whether HMU's commercial and lodging-oriented character fits institutionally oriented uses like schools.
Howard, speaking for the foundation, said the organization has reduced the school's annual lease by $40,000 and needs to find ways to cover the mortgage and operating costs if enrollment remains low. "We have the premier office space availability in this community," he said, describing upstairs space that could be finished for tenants.
Commissioners agreed the discussion warrants public input. Staff will draft ordinance language to add schools and daycare facilities to HMU (or else craft a narrowly tailored accessory-use approach in R-1), prepare a map amendment potentially including neighboring parcels, notify property owners within the statutory notice radius, and bring both items to a public hearing at the commission's next meeting.
