Les Schwab Tire Centers plans to build facility in Worthington

Jul. 12—WORTHINGTON — Oregon-based tire retail chain Les Schwab Tire Centers is poised to build an automotive repair site on the former Runnings site in Worthington, after the Worthington Planning Commission recommended approval of its conditional use permit Tuesday.

KLJ Engineering submitted an application on behalf of the business.

The property, located at 1438 Humiston Ave., is currently zoned B-3, considered a general business district, and city code requires conditional use permits for automotive repair services in B-3 zones.

Plans for the site include demolition of the existing vacant building and construction of a new structure to include six garage bays as well as an exterior area with a roof overhead that will allow workers to change a tire and send a large vehicle or trailer on its way. The plans also include a fully-enclosed 30- by 60-foot roofless "bullpen" structure where used tires will be stored temporarily before being discarded, explained Matt Selof, Worthington's city planner.

While Les Schwab sometimes builds the bullpens at its facilities with privacy fencing, the Planning Commission specified that it should be built from masonry blocks as part of the conditional use permit recommendation.

The commission also specified that a "vegetative screen" — likely trees — should be placed behind the new business to the east, along its border with an R-2 zone, where single-family homes are located.

Other conditions for the permit include maintaining compliance with standards and requirements as well as obtaining approval from the Minnesota Department of Transportation for the change in access from the frontage road.

According to city staff, the access points on the frontage road — currently maintained by the Minnesota Department of Transportation — are being considered by MnDOT's access review committee later this month.

According to its website, Les Schwab Tire Centers was founded in 1952, and currently employs more than 7,000 people across its locations in 10 states, including one in Juneau, Alaska.

In other news Tuesday, the commission:

* Recommended approval of a variance request to exceed the maximum 1,400 cumulative square feet of accessory structures allowed on a residential-zoned property. The variance would allow Matthew Schroeder and Bianca Perry to build a 40- by 40-foot garage on their property at 1616 W. Oxford St. The parcel is about one acre in size and lies between farms and single-family homes. Because the property is so large — nearly as big as the three single-family home lots adjacent to it — the commission agreed it was unique, and that it therefore satisfied the three criteria for a variance required by Minnesota statute.

* Recommended approval of a preliminary plat at 1530 Airport Road — the site of the Prairie Justice Center. Nobles County requested to split its lot into three pieces, one to the immediate west of the driving lane to the PJC, one containing the PJC and a third, 5.968-acre lot, south of the PJC and the retention pond. Plans for the newly-created lots are currently undetermined.

* Recommended approval of an amendment to a conditional use permit for the site of the JBS Fieldhouse, at 700 Second Ave. Its conditional use permit required construction of a fence along the southeast property line, separating it from the railroad tracks to "prevent uncontrolled access to the railroad tracks by children playing outside." The site plan showed the fence running all the way to the Worthington Fire Hall, but doing that would result in a gap in the fence, because of a narrow strip of land between the JBS Fieldhouse and the fire hall that is not owned by the city of Worthington. As yet, the JBS Fieldhouse has not held events outside, and the railroad tracks are already separated from the building by thick vegetation within the railroad right-of-way as well as a steep grade.

* Heard that work on the city's comprehensive plan is continuing, with the next phase being community engagement. That began with a pop-up event at the Regatta, and has continued with branding focused on "Our Worthington 2045." The city plans to release a survey for the community soon, in both English and Spanish, and online and in print. Another pop-up is planned at the International Festival.