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By Patrick Tepoorten
 Growth and development may have slowed to a crawl in the area, but those attending the April 14 Rush City Council meeting could have easily forgotten that. The council spent the better part of the evening dealing with requests regarding three potential local businesses.
Pictured: The proposed Soft Dental site is located at the intersection of 3rd Street and South Fairfield Ave., west of the fairgrounds.
Todd Johnston’s plans for the Grant House, to lease the upper floors to Selah House - a transitional housing facility for women overcoming addiction - was back after a return to the planning commission (PC) for additional review. Unlike last time, when the PC denied Johnston’s request for a zoning ordinance text amendment, the project came before the council with a 3-2 vote by the PC to recommend approval, with conditions.
All in all, there were 16 conditions approved by the PC for granting the text amendment, and another 11 for granting a conditional use permit (CUP). After discussion with new City Attorney John Grundhoefer, attorneys for Johnston, and Selah House representatives, the consensus was that remaining issues with Johnston’s request were related only to language in those conditions.
The council, in an informal poll, agreed it was likely they would support Johnston’s request, and Grundhoefer was instructed to work with Johnston and Selah House on the condition language.
A request from CJP Corp. to lease space to an auto/truck mechanic business, was also before the council. The issue for the PC and the council is that the request would - because the new business would have public traffic - be a departure from the property’s current usage. City ordinances allow for only one principal use in a case, like CJP, where the business is grandfathered, or considered “legal non-conforming.”
Many possibilities, including a minor subdivision, a CUP, and a variance were all discussed. A subdivision would be costly for CJP since it has no plans to sell the structure, and Grundhoefer was instructed by the council to work with planning consultant Joanne Foust and return with a recommendation. Both the CUP or variance would require amendments to city code.
Another concern the council will have to consider is what Mayor Jim Ertz called a “can of worms” in the industrial park. Depending on how this situation is handled, the city may have to look at other usages in the same area to see if they conform to principal usage.
Much simpler was the third request before the council. Soft Dental has submitted plans to build a facility at 1220 W. 3rd Street. The 8,644 square foot building plan is an allowable usage and met with the approval of the PC, city planner, and city engineer. The council followed suit and approved the development plan.
In other news:
• Alger Ave. resident Ben Rustad requested the city address sewer line issues that affect his property, the Rush City VFW, and potentially a third property as well. Rustad’s sewer system is currently unusable, and the VFW is having problems as well. The problem is that both sewer lines cross the municipal bar parking lot to the main. New lines are not allowed to cross others’ property.
The proposed solution is to run a main down an alley between the municipal bar and Alger Ave., at an estimated cost of $44,950.
Rustad was instructed to get affected parties to submit a petition for the project and the city would explore it more in-depth.
• The council announced plans to see if neighbors to the formerly Denny’s Dairy property are interested in purchasing it, in order to cover city expenses associated with its demolition. The city incurred $6,797 in costs.
• The Rush City Food Shelf was commended for reaching “Blue Ribbon Food Shelf” status, based on its level of service to clients.
• A bid from Lynn Koalska to create a Web site for the city was approved contingent on operating software being easy for city staff to utilize. Koalska would charge $350 to set up the site. The city would have monthly charges of about $30, and short-term additions and maintenance would be conducted on an hourly charge basis.
• Liquor income statements through February show North End at a loss of $708. At this time in 2007 the business showed a profit of $8,525. The city is studying the numbers to see what accounts for the discrepancy.
• A lease for office space with SCRED was approved.
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