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BlaineBiz.com - BizConnect
Blaine’s New Outdoor Dining Policy Blaine’s restaurant sector has been hard hit by the restrictions necessary to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the Blaine City Council held an emergency meeting and passed a new policy that allows temporary outdoor dining at Blaine restaurants. The new policy streamlines the process for restaurants to quickly expand current outdoor seating areas or create new outdoor seating. This policy was designed to make the process as easy as possible so restaurants could begin outdoor dining on June 1. The policy was updated to reflect changes as the state moved into phase three of the Stay Safe MN plan on June 10. Under the new policy restaurants may serve customers using the six feet of social distance requirement for each group of up to six people at 50 percent of the restaurant’s capacity, not to exceed 250 individuals, for indoors and outdoors settings each. Reservations: Required Masks: Required for workers, strongly recommended for customers. Restaurants may not operate between 1AM and 7AM. If the restaurant is within 200 feet of a residential area, they must close outdoor dining by 10PM. The Blaine community is showing great support for local restaurants during this pandemic by using curbside pick and take out options. People who feel comfortable doing so, can now continue to support the favorite restaurants by using the indoor and outdoor dining options. The policy and the application form are available at BlaineMN.gov/Planning
Register Your Business The City of Blaine uses the CivicReady emergency notification to push urgent messages out to the community. In light of recent events, the city is adding a business specific listing in CivicReady. Business will now be able to sign up to receive emergency notifications that are for the business community. Register your business online at BlaineMN.gov/RegisterBusiness Registered businesses will automatically be added to the CivicReady Emergency Business Notification System. For more information about CivicReady, visit BlaineMN.gov/CivicReady
Blaine Development Continues During a pandemic, it would be easy to assume that development activity grinds to an abrupt halt. That scenario is not what the city is currently experiencing as you can see in the latest Blaine Planning Commission and Blaine City Council meeting agendas. While overall development activity may be down from last year’s pace, the May and June planning commission agendas included commercial and residential projects that will help keep the development economy going in the right direction. The following commercial projects have been proposed for planning commission and city council review within the last two months: • • • •
Kwik Trip (Lexington Meadows at 109th Avenue/Austin Street) McHale Veterinary Clinic (12535 Ulysses Street NE) Pet Suites (9983 Ulysses Street NE) Lexington Market Retail Shops/Starbucks (Lexington Meadows at 108th Avenue/Lexington Avenue)
The following residential projects have been proposed for planning commission and city council review within the last two months: • • • •
North Meadows (259 total lots with a mix of villas, twin homes and townhomes, Austin Street NE and 109th Avenue NE) Alexander Woods (45 villa lots and 39 single family lots, 113th Avenue and Polk Street NE) Boulder Estates 2nd Addition (9 single family lots, 9850 Hamline Avenue) Harpers Haven (14 single family lots, 12750 Harpers Street NE)
In addition, Lennar Homes, the developer of the single family neighborhood of Lexington Cove (97 single family lots) at Lexington Avenue and 128th Lane NE, has begun grading and development activity. Building permits for following commercial and industrial projects have been recently issued, providing more evidence that business owners are still willing to invest in the City of Blaine: • • • • • • • •
Midwest Diesel (industrial, 3051 82nd Lane NE) Kingdom Baking (commercial bakery, 10130 Sunset Avenue NE) Nafta Solutions, Inc. (industrial, 10122 Naples Street NE) Murphy Bros. (industrial, 1613 93rd Lane NE) Renovation Church (church, commercial, 12390 Fraizer Street NE) Spire Credit Union (commercial, 10 Northtown Drive NE) National Sports Center—dome project (1700 105th Avenue NE) Domino’s Pizza (10495 University Avenue NE) To learn more about these developments, please view the City of Blaine’s interactive development map at BlaineMN.gov/DevelopmentActivity For information on all proposed development projects each month, view the Blaine Planning Commission and Blaine City Council agendas at BlaineMN.gov/Agendas
BizConnect Online BlaineMN.gov/NotifyMe
Blaine BizConnect online is a monthly newsletter delivered right to your inbox that will keep you up to date on development happenings in the City of Blaine. From commercial to industrial to residential, Blaine is one of the fastest growing cities in Minnesota and always has new and exciting projects on the horizon. Sign up online at BlaineBiz.com/NotifyMe, choose BlaineBiz Update
