The St. Michael Planning Commission will hold an eventful September meeting tonight, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. at St. Michael City Hall, and prepare for a major step in selling off the former St. Michael theater site once again.
Included in the agenda is a proposal from Vetsch Plumbing Services and Magic Water to relocate its current facility at the intersection of Second Street Northeast and Central Avenue in St. Michael to the former home of Oasis Market gas station (also a former Holiday Station in St. Michael’s past) a bit farther east down Central Avenue/Highway 241.
The Vetsch family, which has operated the plumbing service since 2000 and purchased the Magic Water franchise in 2004, would convert one portion of the facility into a storage area and office for the plumbing business, while the front side of the old service station would become a display area and showroom.
The Planning Commission would have to vote to allow variances to a couple of ordinances in order to allow a service-based industry (which makes up the larger portion of the Vetsch/Magic Water combo) to move into a business/commercial building that was once a gas station and convenience store. But city staff has been working with several business owners over the past half-decade in attempts to get the former Oasis building a new resident.
Other items on tonight’s agenda include a first look at the proposal for a Goodyear Store/Service Center to the east of China Inn (just West of CVS) on Central Avenue and Edgewood Drive, as well as an expansion of the Cedar Creek Golf Course maintenance shed, which literally sits on the Albertville/St. Michael border.
The commission will also, briefly, discuss an upcoming joint meeting with the St. Michael City Council and the city’s attorney regarding a proposal by Riverside Church to purchase the former Cinemagic Theater in St. Michael. The purchase, which would require a major ordinance change, is in place as the current owner – Cinemasota – has agreed in principal to sell to Riverside as soon as legally possible.
