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Cambridge Bowling Alley buys land in Isanti Industrial ParkPosted Online: 5/21/03 The Cambridge Bowling Alley is considering moving to Isanti. At the Isanti City Council meeting, Tuesday, May 20, it authorized the sale of Industrial Park land to Mike Warring of Warring Companies, owner of the Cambridge Bowling Alley. Warring paid the $1 per square foot as City Council approved formula states. The total facility is planned to be around 20,000 to 30,000 square feet and the estimated cost of the facility, not including land or equipment, is $1.2 million. Isanti City Planner and Economic Development Coordinator Carla Vita said Warring has been working with city staff for some time trying to find a site in the city that could handle his request. Vita said he reviewed a multitude of sites that were available, including the potential of locating on the east side of Hwy. 65 and told city staff that none of those sites would work, but he was interested in the Industrial Park. City staff did inform Warring that the area is zoned industrial and would need to be rezoned. From what is described in the project profile, Warring intends on developing a 16 lane (possible 24 lane) bowling center; a restaurant; banquet facility;, volleyball courts and horseshoe pits.
He indicates in the project profile that he plans on expanding the facility by 10,000 square feet over the three to five years following its opening. The facility will be located west of Isanti County Equipment. Vita also encouraged the Council to consider approving the request to help the city make its bond payments. Vita informed the Council that between the bowling alley's request for the $1 per square foot for land and the city reimbursing the assessment, it will pay for the city's bond payments until 2008. Vita said paying the bond payment is a concern to city staff and the Council, so this project will certainly help the city achieve its goals of filling the Industrial park with businesses and reducing the burden on its taxpayers. Vita mentioned the EDA did recommend approval of the project at its May 15 meeting, by a vote of 2 to 1 (EDA member Larry Kuechle voting against). Vita said some EDA members questioned whether this was appropriate planning for the city, since the bowling alley will be located in the city's Industrial Park. Villages on the Rum Phase III In other action, the Council approved the preliminary plat for Villages on the Rum Phase III, the largest development the city has seen. Villages on the Rum Phase III, is a development proposed to have 222 single family residential lots and 249 multiple family lots. Brian Iverson, of Iverson Real Estate Corporation, requested approval of the preliminary plat. The development will be located west of Third Ave., north of Isanti Parkway and east of the Rum River. The property contains approximately 155.9 acres and is surrounded by the soccer fields to the east, agricultural to the north, the Rum River to the west and agricultural, single and multiple family residential to the south. The property is zoned R1, Single Family Residential with minimum lot sizes of 11,000 square feet on the western edge of the property and R3, Low Density Multiple Family Residential, on the eastern side. Vita said the plat layout is consistent with the Isanti Comprehensive Land Use Plan, but said Iverson is requesting a planned unit development which is not indicated by the Land Use Plan. A trail along the west side of Third Ave. will be needed for conformity with the Trail Plan, which was approved by the Council in fall 2002. The plat also meets or exceeds the city's Sidewalk Ordinance with some modifications. City staff didn't recommend a park because Bluebird Park should fulfill this need. The Isanti Planning Commission held a public hearing on this matter at its May 12 meeting. One of the comments included a need for safety control devices at the intersection of Third Ave. and Isanti Parkway. ©Isanti County News |