HomeMy WebLinkAbout2.b. UMore Gravel Mining: Ancillary UsesoA"
� EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CITY COUNCIL
City Council Worksession Date: June 15, 2010
AGENDA I fEM: UMore Gravel Mining: Ancillary Uses
AGENDA SECTION:
Discussion
PREPARE] BY: Eric Zweber, Senior Planner
AGENDA NO. , B
ATTACHMENTS: Proposed Ancillary Operation Site Plan,
Ancillary Use Photos
APPROVED BY:
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Discussion Only
SUMMARY
The University of Minnesota is interested in mining aggregate in the western third of the UMore property.
The portion of UMore that is proposed for mining in Rosemount is roughly bounded by Biscayne Avenue
to the west, Akron Avenue to the east, County Road 42 to the north, and County Road 46 to the south.
The University would like to mine the aggregate for a number of reasons: to provide funds for site clean
up and finance development of other portions of the UMore site, and to create a more interesting and
attractive topography. The University has selected Dakota Aggregates, LLC, a partnership between
Cemstone and Ames Construction, to operate the gravel mining operation at UMore. In February, the City
Council reviewed the preliminary gravel plan prepared by Dakota Aggregates and provided comments.
Since that time, staff has been discussing the proposed ancillary uses, such as concrete and asphalt plants,
with Dakota Aggregates and University staff. The plan submitted indicates approximately 188 acres
dedicated to their requested ancillary uses. Due to concerns raised by the staff about off -site impacts and
on -site views, the University has suggested they could buffer the ancillary use area with another 33 acres of
land, left vacant as a barrier between future development and the mining uses. Staff is concerned about the
size of the ancillary use area and the types of uses proposed. Due to how mining operations work, the
ancillary uses will be the last area cleaned up after all mining is complete. That means that 180 -220 acres
(ancillary uses plus buffer) will remain on the site well after mining and reclamation has occurred within
Rosemount. These ancillary uses will also service all mining activity in Empire Township. Ultimately, staff
is concerned about the impact of locating the ancillary uses in Rosemount and the affect it will have on
timing and staging of future development on the UMore property. Those issues are the topic of this
agenda item.
DISCUSSION
Dakota Aggregates has proposed eight discrete uses on their ancillary operation site plan: aggregate
processing, office, recycling yard, asphalt plant, concrete plant, bag plant, maintenance facility, and casting
yard. Two of these uses, aggregate processing and offices, would likely be considered as accessory uses
since without the gravel mine, there would be no use for the aggregate processing or the office. The other
six uses are less similar to accessory uses because they can be found operating separately and on their own.
The reason why the University is interested in siting these uses within the mining area is that the individual
uses depend upon mining material for their finished product. However, many mines do not have these
types of businesses and often they may have a relationship with a mining owner but are not geographically
located immediately adjacent to the mining operation. Staff sees three issues that the Council should
consider when discussing the proposed ancillary uses associated with the mining: to what degree are these
uses accessory and necessary to the operation of the mining activity; can negative off -site impacts of the
ancillary uses be mitigated for existing residents and the future residents of the UMore property; and what
is the affect of the amount, overall size, and type of ancillary uses on the timing of development of the
UMore property within the City of Rosemount.
Proposed Ancillary Uses
PROPOSED USE
RELATION TO
DESCRIPTION
GRAVEL MINE
Aggregate processing is the washing, crushing
and screening of the raw aggregate mined from
Directly Related;
the site into pile of separate, marketable
AGGREGATE
Expected Accessory
aggregate products. Examples of these products
PROCESSING
Use
include sand, class 5, landscape boulders,
MnDOT specification concrete aggregate.
Typically occurs within the mining pit, although
not proposed to in this case.
Offices for managers of Dakota Aggregate,
meeting rooms for employee training sessions,
break or lunch rooms, and bathroom facilities.
Directly Related;
Offices in most gravel mines are in the form of
OFFICE
Expected Accessory
a construction trailer but due to the size and
Use
length of time of the gravel mining and ancillary
uses, it would be expected that the offices would
be larger and housed in permanent buildings
with running water.
Similar to the aggregate processing in function
but the difference is recycled material is trucked
in from off site and does not come directly from
Indirectly Related;
the gravel mine. All of the existing gravel mines
RECYCLING YARD
Common Accessory
in Rosemount recycle concrete and aggregate
Use
from road projects, but none of them recycle
asphalt or shingles. The asphalt plant could take
RAP (recycled asphalt product) or recycled
shingles to lower the amount of oil needed for a
batch of asphalt.
Series of silos, oil storage tanks, truck scales,
conveyors and aggregate piles that are used to
Indirectly Related;
manufacture asphalt. Due to the different types
ASPHALT PLANT
Common Accessory
of asphalt batches, six silos in two rows of three
Use
are anticipated. The proposed plan includes
three oil storage tanks of 12,000 barrels each
which could store over 1,500,000 gallons of oil
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on site. Current ordinance requires separate
interim use permit for this use. Asphalt plant
does not have to be located near mine i.e.:
Valley Paying and Pine Bend Paying.
A concrete plant looks similar to asphalt plant
with silos, truck scales, conveyors and aggregate
piles but without the oil storage tanks. The
plans include one concrete plant that would
Indirectly Related;
enclose silos and truck scales to allow winter
CONCRETE PLANT
Common Accessory
Production but there are also plans for a second
"summer"
Use
plant that would not be enclosed.
This "summer" plant would likely be stored on
site over the winter. Current ordinance allows a
concrete plant as accessory to a permitted mine.
There are no concrete plants currently in
operation in the City.
The maintenance facility is a truck and heavy
equipment repair shop similar to the shops
located at the trucking firms located on the east
side of Rosemount. While the maintenance
shop would likely work on the trucks and heavy
Indirectly Related;
equipment from the gravel mine, the
MAINTENANCE
Uncommon
maintenance facility will work more often on
FACILITY
Accessory Use
trucks and equipment from the asphalt plant,
concrete plant, and other ancillary uses.
Typically, a gravel mine would not have enough
equipment to warrant erection of a maintenance
facility. Current ordinance standards would
typically allow this type of use accessory to a
permitted use such as a trucking facility.
A bag plant is a manufacturing facility where
aggregate, dry pre -mixed cement or mortar, and
landscape products are bagged for retail sales
similar to the products that you would buy in a
Home Depot. Some of the products like
playground sand or paver base may come
Not Directly Related;
directly from the gravel mine, while the pre -
BAG PLANT
Stand -alone Use in
mixed cement or mortar is from material on site
Other Communities
due to the concrete plant, and other products
such as landscape rock are trucked in bulk from
off -site. Cemstone currently has a stand -alone
bag house in St. Paul that they would like to
move here. Current ordinance standards would
locate this use in the G -1 General Industrial
District.
During our previous City Council work session, we talked over some of the impacts from these operations
and how their impacts can be mitigated. We discussed setbacks, berming, landscaping, dust control, noise
standards, and limiting vehicle routes for extending hours of operation. Since the last work session, staff
has had a meeting with Dakota Aggregates and UMore regarding the size, location and intensity of the
ancillary facilities. Specifically, staff expressed concerns that the aggregation of these proposed uses in size
and number in one single location are unprecedented in the Twin Cities and to our collective knowledge,
anywhere. Additionally, staff raised the concern that as proposed the ancillary facilities are located
adjacent to the gravel mining pits, on higher ground, consistent with land elevations for future
development. This location is much more difficult to mitigate than the typical ancillary uses that are
located within the working gravel mine that can use the depth of the gravel mine and its setbacks and
landscaped berms as mitigating factors.
Dakota Aggregates and UMore have conceded that there is no location with a similar collection of
ancillary uses but claimed that there would not be any greater cumulative effects. The EIS will be
addressing some of the potential impacts although part of the concern is that it only relates to existing
surrounding development and not future development on the University property.
Some of the proposed ancillary uses, such as the cement and asphalt plant, have direct relationship with
the gravel mine because the aggregate being mined is their primary raw material. Other ancillary uses
being proposed, such as the bag plant, casting yard, or maintenance facility, have an additional degree of
separation from the gravel mine. The bag plant creates bags of products for retail sale, some are aggregate
from the mine, some are dry mixes of cement or mortar from the concrete plant, and some are materials
such as landscaping rock which are brought to the facility from other sites. The casting yard is designed to
create objects cast from the cement from the concrete plant, not from material directly from the mine.
The maintenance facility may work on some of the vehicles from the mine but most of the vehicles they
will work on are from the concrete plant, asphalt plant, or vehicles that haul material to and from the bag
plant or casting yard. The University has indicated that one of the benefits of having all these uses on -site
is that the mined aggregate will be used faster, thereby allowing development to occur sooner. However,
4
The casting yard would be used to store
concrete products. There is a relatively small
building planned for casting and kilning the
concrete products but the majority of the site is
outdoor storage. Dakota Aggregates stated the
plant would manufacture concrete products
including retaining wall blocks and bridge
Not Directly Related;
sections. Other cast concrete products could be
CASTING YARD
Stand -alone Use in
concrete pipe like those formally produced at
Other Communities
Hanson's in Apple Valley. The casting yard
would be located at this facility because of the
concrete plant. Commonly, casting yards are
separate industrial uses or cast -in -place similar
to the I -35W bridge section where casting
occurs on -site. Current ordinance standards
would permit this use in the G -1 General
Industrial zoning district provided the casting
building was at least 10% of the lot area.
During our previous City Council work session, we talked over some of the impacts from these operations
and how their impacts can be mitigated. We discussed setbacks, berming, landscaping, dust control, noise
standards, and limiting vehicle routes for extending hours of operation. Since the last work session, staff
has had a meeting with Dakota Aggregates and UMore regarding the size, location and intensity of the
ancillary facilities. Specifically, staff expressed concerns that the aggregation of these proposed uses in size
and number in one single location are unprecedented in the Twin Cities and to our collective knowledge,
anywhere. Additionally, staff raised the concern that as proposed the ancillary facilities are located
adjacent to the gravel mining pits, on higher ground, consistent with land elevations for future
development. This location is much more difficult to mitigate than the typical ancillary uses that are
located within the working gravel mine that can use the depth of the gravel mine and its setbacks and
landscaped berms as mitigating factors.
Dakota Aggregates and UMore have conceded that there is no location with a similar collection of
ancillary uses but claimed that there would not be any greater cumulative effects. The EIS will be
addressing some of the potential impacts although part of the concern is that it only relates to existing
surrounding development and not future development on the University property.
Some of the proposed ancillary uses, such as the cement and asphalt plant, have direct relationship with
the gravel mine because the aggregate being mined is their primary raw material. Other ancillary uses
being proposed, such as the bag plant, casting yard, or maintenance facility, have an additional degree of
separation from the gravel mine. The bag plant creates bags of products for retail sale, some are aggregate
from the mine, some are dry mixes of cement or mortar from the concrete plant, and some are materials
such as landscaping rock which are brought to the facility from other sites. The casting yard is designed to
create objects cast from the cement from the concrete plant, not from material directly from the mine.
The maintenance facility may work on some of the vehicles from the mine but most of the vehicles they
will work on are from the concrete plant, asphalt plant, or vehicles that haul material to and from the bag
plant or casting yard. The University has indicated that one of the benefits of having all these uses on -site
is that the mined aggregate will be used faster, thereby allowing development to occur sooner. However,
4
placement of the ancillary uses in Rosemount means that at a minimum all lands dedicated to those uses
will be last to develop. That means that development would go around the staged ancillary use area, and
would enter into Empire Township before being completed in Rosemount.
To address potential off -site impacts to future residents on the UMore property, the idea of a land buffer
around the ancillary uses has been suggested by the University. A buffer of several hundred feet around
the proposed ancillary uses would further reduce the amount of developable land until the end of mining
(projected at 40 years) and could inhibit development within Rosemount on lands not designated for
mining. In other words, while approximately 380 acres would remain undeveloped due to the ancillary
uses, other residential development will not want to locate too close to those uses, impacting future
development opportunities. Currently the City's ordinances for mining are to permit mining as an interim
use until such time as development approaches or development is negatively impacted. UMore's buffer
suggestion could result in development being delayed or reduced to allow the interim ancillary uses to
continue for the mining's entire 40 plus year lifespan. As a reminder, the preliminary gravel mining plan
called for gravel mining to finish in Rosemount within 25 years but that the ancillary facilities would
remain for an additional 15 years beyond that resulting in the reclaimed gravel mine in Empire being
developed before the ancillary uses would end.
When discussions about mining initially occurred with the University, the mining (financing) was more
looked at as a means to an end, future development of the UMore property. As we continue discussions
about site development, the mining has taken on more of a prominent role in the future development of
the property. Staff is uncomfortable supporting a use that will hinder the City's ultimate goal, to develop
UMore.
Generallndustrial — the Land Use Classification ofAncillary Uses
The collection of ancillary uses proposed would individually be defined as GI — General Industrial uses
under the Zoning Ordinance. The proposed concrete plant, asphalt plant, and bag plant are proposed to
be 105, 89, and 85 feet tall respectively. The City Code requires that 1/3 of the height of these facilities
need to be screened, which in the case of the cement plant would be 35 feet, but the remaining 70 feet
would be visible. Additional impacts will result from the additional truck traffic, dust, noise, and light
generated from these uses that will need to mitigated for but cannot be prevented.
The concept of adding general industrial uses to the UMore property is inconsistent with previous policy
discussions about limiting the General and Heavy Industrial uses to the areas currently zoned and guided
for those uses. As the Council has discussed the City has an abundance of industrial land, primarily due to
existing land uses in the area. While the ancillary uses proposed are interim, approximately 40 years, it is
long enough to have an impact on the development pattern of the surrounding lands.
The proposed ancillary facility northwest of Akron Avenue and County Road 46 would result in the
creation of a 188 acre general industrial park within the proposed UMore Park development. The facility
is roughly 4,500 feet east to west and 2,500 feet north to south. If an additional 200 foot buffer was
provided on the north and east side of the ancillary facility to buffer the facility from future development,
an additional 33 acres would be undevelopable. The question to the Council is 220 acres of land an
acceptable amount of land to prevent from being developed for 40 or more year in addition to the
nuisances generated by the uses. In our existing Comprehensive Plan, we buffer general industrial uses
from residential uses by having a transition of other land uses such as major transportation corridors or
commercial or business park uses. During the 42/52 study, there was public comment expressing concern
about designating property residential within 2 miles of the active portion of the Flint Hills refinery. With
5
this ancillary use facility, the future residential UMore neighborhoods will be constructed adjacent
(separated only by any open area buffer prevented from being developed) to these general industrial uses.
There is no other area in Rosemount where the proximity of general industrial and residential uses are
planned.
Comparison of Typical Gravel Minim Ancillary Uses and the Proposed UMore Ancillary Uses
During the recent zoning ordinance amendments and comprehensive planning process there was a
conscious decision to locate high impact industrial uses in the area currently housing those uses. The
"eastside" of Rosemount contains numerous businesses which would be undesirable to live near. For that
reason the City has designated Heavy and General Industrial uses near Hwy 52 in the north and eastern
portions of the City. Staff is uncomfortable supporting the location of what amounts to General Industrial
uses in the UMore property. This impacts the future development potential of the area and also impacts
the public perception and market attractiveness of the community.
RECOMMENDATION
When discussions about mining initially occurred with the University, the mining was more looked at as a
means to an end; future development of the UMore property. As we continue discussions about site
development, the mining has taken on more of a prominent role in the future development of the
property. Staff is uncomfortable supporting a use that will hinder the City's ultimate goal, to develop
UMore, resulting in potential decade delays and less orderly development.
Staff is considering two possible courses of action, either reducing the size of the ancillary facility, most
likely removing the less accessory uses proposed, or requiring the ancillary facilities to move south of
County Road 46 into Empire Township. Reducing the size of the ancillary facility would allow more land
to develop and require Dakota Aggregate to choose what are truly ancillary uses that they want to
construct. Moving the ancillary facilities to Empire Township would locate the uses next to the land that
would be mined 40 years from now, provide the County Road 46 corridor as a buffer to the facility, and
allow the development of Rosemount in an orderly fashion, as mining and reclamation occurs. Staff would
like to feedback from the Council about the staffs approach and stated concerns.
A
Typical
Gravel Mining
Ancillary Uses
UMore
Gravel Mining
Ancillary Use
General Industrial-type Use
X
X
Located within the Gravel Mine Excavation Site
X
Located Adjacent to the Excavation Site
X
Located below Surrounding Uses
X
Located at the same Elevation as the Surrounding Uses
X
Mobile and Moves with the Mining Phases
X
Semi - Permanent 40 Years in One Location
X
Leaves when Mining is Complete
X
Stay after Mining is Complete in Rosemount
X
Uses the Same Setbacks and Buffers as the Gravel Mine
X
Additional Setbacks or Buffers Required
X
Typically only One or Two Ancillary Uses
X
Six Proposed Ancillary Uses
X
During the recent zoning ordinance amendments and comprehensive planning process there was a
conscious decision to locate high impact industrial uses in the area currently housing those uses. The
"eastside" of Rosemount contains numerous businesses which would be undesirable to live near. For that
reason the City has designated Heavy and General Industrial uses near Hwy 52 in the north and eastern
portions of the City. Staff is uncomfortable supporting the location of what amounts to General Industrial
uses in the UMore property. This impacts the future development potential of the area and also impacts
the public perception and market attractiveness of the community.
RECOMMENDATION
When discussions about mining initially occurred with the University, the mining was more looked at as a
means to an end; future development of the UMore property. As we continue discussions about site
development, the mining has taken on more of a prominent role in the future development of the
property. Staff is uncomfortable supporting a use that will hinder the City's ultimate goal, to develop
UMore, resulting in potential decade delays and less orderly development.
Staff is considering two possible courses of action, either reducing the size of the ancillary facility, most
likely removing the less accessory uses proposed, or requiring the ancillary facilities to move south of
County Road 46 into Empire Township. Reducing the size of the ancillary facility would allow more land
to develop and require Dakota Aggregate to choose what are truly ancillary uses that they want to
construct. Moving the ancillary facilities to Empire Township would locate the uses next to the land that
would be mined 40 years from now, provide the County Road 46 corridor as a buffer to the facility, and
allow the development of Rosemount in an orderly fashion, as mining and reclamation occurs. Staff would
like to feedback from the Council about the staffs approach and stated concerns.
A
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