Burnsville City Council votes no on day care, weeks after Islamic community center

For the second time this month, a potential tenant for a largely vacant Burnsville office complex has gotten a red light from the City Council.

Plans for a day-care center were halted by a unanimous council vote Tuesday night, two weeks after the same thing happened to an Islamic community center and prayer hall. Both were asking the city for zoning changes so they could operate in buildings zoned for small offices.

Residents and city leaders who opposed the community center and the day care raised concerns about traffic and parking at the site, which is located off busy McAndrews Road.

There has been confusion about what kinds of tenants are allowed in the three office buildings on Frontier Court. Both the community center and the day care were planning major renovations; the community center had already moved in.

It's an unusual situation, said Planning Commission Chairman Jim Bradrick. "There may have been some bad advice given here," he said.

Staff members at Madina Community Center, which has been renting space in the complex since November, said they had leased the site with the understanding that they could operate a school there.

Day-care applicant Abdalla Abdi declined to comment.

Part of the problem, he said, is the lack of interest in small-business centers like the one on Frontier Court.

"The owner just wants to get the space leased," he said. "There just seems to be a certain predatory nature about it that rubs me the wrong way."

Fargo-based Eleven Investments LLC, which owns the buildings, did not respond to requests for comment.

At an April 11 Planning Commission meeting, resident Jim Giebel said that he was worried about the number of cars going in and out of the day-care center. It would have been open five days a week and would have served up to 116 children.

"Intentions are good, but it's not the right place for it," he said.

It's the responsibility of the property owner and tenant to make sure they're meeting the requirements attached to any property, said Community Development Director Jenni Faulkner.

The city doesn't look for those violations.

"We only know when they're brought to our attention," Faulkner said, "so it's possible that there are some out there right now that we just don't know about."