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Record of Proceedings

Eagan City Council Meeting - January 6, 2026: Zoning Amendments and Conditional Use Permit Approved

City Council — Tuesday, January 6, 2026
BodyEagan, Minnesota
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, January 6, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
3:56

I'd like to welcome everybody to the January sixth regular meeting of the Egan City Council.

4:04

It's our first meeting of the month of January, and our first meeting of uh the two thousand and twenty-six year.

4:11

So I hope everybody had a uh good New Year and a happy holiday season.

4:16

Um we are uh without Councilman Blacken tonight.

4:19

Uh, he will be our returning from uh holiday break uh uh before our next council meeting.

4:25

And we have a fairly efficient agenda tonight which explains the wrongs of citizens who have shown up to see uh our uh work being done.

4:34

So uh with that, um uh Ms.

4:36

Miller, are there any changes to the agenda?

4:37

No, Mr.

4:38

Mayor.

4:38

Uh council, any changes the agenda.

4:40

No, sir.

4:40

Motion.

4:41

Take a motion, Councilman Hansen.

4:42

To adopt the agenda is presented.

4:43

Second.

4:44

That's moved and seconded.

4:45

Uh is there any further discussion on the agenda?

4:47

Saying none, all in favor saying I.

4:49

And opposed, nay, that motion carries.

4:52

Uh, we have no we say we have an agenda.

4:54

We have no recognition of the presentations tonight, so I'll go right to the consent agenda.

4:58

Um, just because it's what I do.

5:00

Are there any members of the public who are here on items appearing in the consent agenda and one is see those items pulled for separate action head questions?

5:08

Seeing none, I'll bring it back to council.

5:10

Council, same question.

5:12

For motion, council member subpoena for a motion.

5:14

Move to approve the consent agenda.

5:16

Second.

5:16

That's moved and seconded.

5:17

Any further conversation on the consent agenda.

5:20

Saying none, all in favor, some saying aye.

5:22

Opposed, nay.

5:23

That motion carries, and we've adopted the consent agenda.

5:25

We have no public hearings tonight.

5:27

Uh, so I'll go right to old business.

5:28

We have one item of old business, it's to approve an ordinance amendment to chapter 11 involving land use definitions and allowing places of worship within certain zoning districts, including NB, neighborhood business, and business park BP.

5:43

Um Ms.

5:44

Thank you, Mr.

5:45

Mayor, members of the council.

5:46

Uh, in terms of background, uh, in October of 2024 at a special council meeting, our planning staff did present council and the advisory planning commission with review of religious facilities as part of their 2025 work plan.

5:58

And then last year in September at the special council meeting, staff presented an update to both council and APC members as part of their annual joint meeting.

6:06

Council did provide input and direction to staff regarding the ordinance ordinance amendment presented to you this evening.

6:12

The planning commission held a public hearing on the ordinance amendment on December 18th of 2025 and recommended approval.

6:17

So I will turn it over to City Planner Schultz to summarize the proposed ordinance amendment.

6:21

Thank you, Ms.

6:22

Miller.

6:22

Mayor, Council.

6:23

Um, I'm just gonna highlight a few of the changes.

6:25

We did not necessarily do uh, you know, multitude of changes.

6:29

We try to keep uh the changes um minimal uh at best, but um planning commission did make some recommendations that might be a little bit different than you know, maybe what uh what was thought of in the beginning of this uh this whole process.

6:42

So obviously we are going to change uh the term uh from church to places of worship.

6:48

Um it will include a slightly you know revised definition uh of places of worship.

6:54

Uh the new term then um is then replaced throughout other portions of chapter 11, except for one small portion that involves Met Council's compatibility compatibility guideline standards that we didn't want to mess with just because they came from Met Council, and so we're just we decided to leave it uh as is.

7:11

So uh so the change basically mimics what we've seen in Apple Valley and and Woodbury.

7:18

Uh they use um basically uh different thresholds in which basically they either allow smaller congregations or larger uh congregations.

7:26

So um we mimicked uh Woodbury and and uh in Apple Valley, uh and we use basically the threshold of of 100 um people within an assembly area.

7:37

So if it's less than 100 or greater than 100, we basically condition that um as either permitted uh or conditional within those zone districts.

7:46

So before you hear is uh a chart um showing basically some of the changes.

7:51

So again, this we we're not changing uh the allowances basically within public facilities uh or limited business.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning And Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████72%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████16%
Procedural████████12%
Summary of Proceedings

Eagan City Council Meeting – January 6, 2026

The Eagan City Council held its regular meeting on January 6, 2026, at 6:30 PM at the Eagan Municipal Center. The council adopted the agenda, approved the consent calendar without discussion, and considered two major items: an ordinance amendment to allow places of worship in additional zoning districts and a conditional use permit for outdoor vehicle storage. Councilmember Blacken was absent. The meeting adjourned shortly after 7:00 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes of the December 16, 2025 regular council meeting.
  • Approved personnel items, check registers (two periods ending December 12 and December 19, 2025), and multiple contracts.
  • Adopted a resolution to accept donations.
  • Approved Change Order No. 1 for Northview Park Restrooms (City Contract 25-11) and Change Order No. 1 for LeMay Lake Fishing Pier (City Contract 25-15).
  • Approved an on-sale and Sunday liquor license for 721 Sports Bar and Lounge, Inc.
  • Approved the 2026 Fee Schedule for General Municipal Services & Materials Testing Services.
  • Received draft feasibility reports for five street improvement projects (Projects 1634, 1635, 1636, 1638, and 1639) and scheduled a public hearing for February 2, 2026.
  • Scheduled a public hearing for February 3, 2026, to certify delinquent nuisance abatement bills.
  • Received a petition to vacate excess right-of-way and easement at Meadow View Road (Lot 1, Block 1, United Stationers Addition).
  • Approved Change Order No. 8 for the Eagan Community Center Reinvestment Project (#1576).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public spoke on any agenda item.

Discussion Items

1. Ordinance Amendment to Chapter 11 – Places of Worship City Planner Schultz presented a proposed ordinance to replace the term “church” with “places of worship” and to allow such uses in the Neighborhood Business (NB) and Business Park (BP) zoning districts, which previously did not permit them. The amendment, modeled after Apple Valley and Woodbury, establishes two thresholds:

  • Congregations with fewer than 100 persons in the assembly area, or occupying less than 40% of a multi-tenant building’s gross floor area, may operate as a permitted use (by right).
  • Congregations with 100 or more persons, or occupying 40% or more of a multi-tenant building, require a conditional use permit (CUP).

The existing permitted uses in Public Facilities (PF) and Limited Business (LB) districts remain unchanged. Housekeeping corrections to numbering were also included. Councilmember Sabina noted that the ordinance text for conditional uses incorrectly wrote “less than 40%” when the intended threshold was “greater than 40%”; staff confirmed the error and clarified the intent. The council confirmed the standards align with federal land use law. The ordinance was approved unanimously (4-0).

2. Conditional Use Permit – UP Seneca LLC (1971 Seneca Road) The applicant, UP Seneca LLC, requested a CUP to create a 9,075 square foot fenced enclosure in the northeast corner of a 3-acre industrial parcel (zoned I-1) for overnight parking of vehicles used by two tenants. The property currently has a 41,000 square foot building built in 1967; no building changes are proposed. The enclosure would be accessed via the existing parking lot, with new paving, removal of a gravel driveway (to be replaced with turf), addition of 30 parking stalls, and landscaping along Seneca Road. Staff found all six review criteria satisfied. A condition prohibits outdoor storage or sale of vehicles outside the enclosure or inside the building. The applicant’s representative was not present; the council noted the CUP had no issues. Councilmember Sabina inquired why such uncontested CUPs could not be handled administratively; City Attorney Bauer explained it would require a code amendment. The CUP was approved unanimously (4-0).

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimously approved the consent agenda (all items listed) – Motion by Councilmember Hansen, seconded by Councilmember Subpoena.
  • Approved Ordinance Amendment to Chapter 11 (places of worship) on a 4-0 vote – Motion by Councilmember Hansen, seconded by Councilmember Subpoena.
  • Approved Conditional Use Permit for UP Seneca LLC subject to conditions in the APC minutes – Motion by Councilmember Subpoena, seconded by Councilmember Hansen. Vote: 4-0.
  • No other business; meeting adjourned by unanimous consent.

Meeting Transcript

I'd like to welcome everybody to the January sixth regular meeting of the Egan City Council. It's our first meeting of the month of January, and our first meeting of uh the two thousand and twenty-six year. So I hope everybody had a uh good New Year and a happy holiday season. Um we are uh without Councilman Blacken tonight. Uh, he will be our returning from uh holiday break uh uh before our next council meeting. And we have a fairly efficient agenda tonight which explains the wrongs of citizens who have shown up to see uh our uh work being done. So uh with that, um uh Ms. Miller, are there any changes to the agenda? No, Mr. Mayor. Uh council, any changes the agenda. No, sir. Motion. Take a motion, Councilman Hansen. To adopt the agenda is presented. Second. That's moved and seconded. Uh is there any further discussion on the agenda? Saying none, all in favor saying I. And opposed, nay, that motion carries. Uh, we have no we say we have an agenda. We have no recognition of the presentations tonight, so I'll go right to the consent agenda. Um, just because it's what I do. Are there any members of the public who are here on items appearing in the consent agenda and one is see those items pulled for separate action head questions? Seeing none, I'll bring it back to council. Council, same question. For motion, council member subpoena for a motion. Move to approve the consent agenda. Second. That's moved and seconded. Any further conversation on the consent agenda. Saying none, all in favor, some saying aye. Opposed, nay. That motion carries, and we've adopted the consent agenda. We have no public hearings tonight. Uh, so I'll go right to old business. We have one item of old business, it's to approve an ordinance amendment to chapter 11 involving land use definitions and allowing places of worship within certain zoning districts, including NB, neighborhood business, and business park BP. Um Ms. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Uh, in terms of background, uh, in October of 2024 at a special council meeting, our planning staff did present council and the advisory planning commission with review of religious facilities as part of their 2025 work plan. And then last year in September at the special council meeting, staff presented an update to both council and APC members as part of their annual joint meeting. Council did provide input and direction to staff regarding the ordinance ordinance amendment presented to you this evening. The planning commission held a public hearing on the ordinance amendment on December 18th of 2025 and recommended approval. So I will turn it over to City Planner Schultz to summarize the proposed ordinance amendment. Thank you, Ms. Miller. Mayor, Council. Um, I'm just gonna highlight a few of the changes. We did not necessarily do uh, you know, multitude of changes.

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