Sauk Rapids City Council To Debate Manea’s Meats Expansion

(KNSI) — Manea’s Meats is looking to expand its Sauk Rapids facility by 12,125 square feet through a planned unit development agreement.

To accommodate the growth in what the city says is a crowded district, the council would need to abandon completely an alleyway that runs near the building on the north side of the property.

Sauk Rapids requires large buildings to be constructed in such a way as to appear like a varied front of smaller stores. Even though the expansion would be for meat processing and not the retail end of operations, Manea’s is proposing the new structure to have different roof heights, among other measures such as changing façade colors and styles to recreate a thriving business block. City officials say the expansion will not meet ordinance requirements for glazing, defined as windows or glass appearing to be windows. The request says the building will be 50% glazing on the lower level and just 10% on the second story, which is in line with the 2016 expansion that was approved.

Manea’s says that consistency, even in violation of the code, will produce a better result than dramatically shifting the exterior look to people passing by.

Another potential sticking point is stormwater treatment. The site is nearly full at ground level, which means stormwater will need a system that allows it to pool underneath the new parking lot. The city engineer has already approved a structural engineering plan.

The matter will be discussed at Tuesday night’s city council meeting, which will get underway at 6:00.

___