The Cottage Grove Plan Commission on July 9 recommended approval of a site plan for a multi-tenant light-industrial building to be built at 640 Court Crossing. The commission approved the site plan with staff conditions and encouraged design refinements to better address the Cottage Grove Road frontage and pedestrian access.

Applicant David Zielke described an approximately 18,476-square-foot, multi-tenant building with units ranging from roughly 1,600 to 3,000 square feet intended for small trade, service or retail/showroom tenants. Staff and commissioners said the project responds to local demand for small, affordable commercial “incubator” spaces and noted utilities and stormwater connections were previously planned to link to nearby ponds and infrastructure.

Staff recommended approval with conditions including: compliance with sign-permit requirements for future tenants, additional facade design work for Cottage Grove Road (materials, parapet and hidden-fastener panels rather than exposed fastener metal), and final photometric and stormwater details. Commissioners asked the applicant to explore adding a parapet and a three-foot wainscot to reduce the perceived scale of the facade and to consider crosswalk and pedestrian connections to make the site more walkable from nearby residences.

Commissioner Alex moved to approve the site plan with staff recommendations; Commissioner JP seconded. The motion carried. Staff will receive final engineering, landscape and lighting plans and confirm that potential conditional uses (for tenants such as a karate studio) are routed through the conditional-use process if required.

The applicant said rents on the Cottage Grove-facing units would be higher ("in the high teens" per square foot) and the back flex units lower ("low teens"), and that he expects long-term tenants rather than transient uses. Commissioners described the project as a useful addition of incubator-style commercial space while asking for design improvements along the primary frontage to help the stretch of Cottage Grove Road develop a more “main-street” feel.