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Platting of a three large industrial parcels in Coon Rapids may secure a new business.
The Coon Rapids City Council Aug. 2 unanimously approved preliminary and final plats to create three lots on a 24-acre site owned by Rapids Industrial LLC at 9570 Norway St., located between Coon Rapids and Foley boulevards and borders the Burlington-Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks to the west.
One of the new lots totaling 4.5 acres has a building occupied by Larsen Manufacturing Co., but two of the vacant outlots, one 16.5 acres and the other 0.5 acres, were created for future development.
Dakota Crowell, city planner, said that the 16.5-acre lot includes nine acres of wetland, but that still leaves room for a sizable building.
And while no formal application has been received, Crowell said that Tenaska has shown interest in building a battery storage facility on this property.
A battery storage facility would require a conditional use permit as a utility in an industrial zoning district.
“This use would be unique in the city and the site is close to an existing Xcel Energy substation,” Crowell said.
Battery storage facilities capture and store excess energy (like wind and solar) that can be released at times of high electricity demand.
A work session of the Coon Rapids Planning Commission will discuss the potential development Sept. 19.
The plant would include on-ground containers for battery storage and the commission will discuss screening options and whether it is a good fit.
This platting is a “little bit unique,” noted Council Member Brad Greskowiak.
It has been proposed to market the site a lot better because the Larsen building currently straddles two of the parcels, Crowell said.
This cleans up the site after the city constructed Norway through the area, Mayor Jerry Koch said.
Norway was built from Coon Rapids Boulevard to Foley Boulevard a couple of years ago as part of Anoka County’s reconstruction of Foley from Coon Rapids Boulevard to East River Road that included an overpass at the railroad tracks.
Tenaska, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is an international energy company founded in 1987.
One of the largest privately-held companies in the US with more than 700 employees, it is involved in natural gas marketing, power management, development, acquisition of generation assets and power plant operations, including carbon capture, natural gas, wind, solar and battery storage facilities, according to its website. It has regional offices in Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, Boston and Houston as well as Calgary and Vancouver in Canada.
SOURCE: Hometown Source
