Plan to Bring Scooter's to Sauk Rapids Moving Forward

SAUK RAPIDS (WJON News) -- The plan to bring a new coffee shop to downtown Sauk Rapids is ready to move forward.

We first told you about Scooter's plan to build a new store on the vacant lot in June of last year.

The Sauk Rapids Planning Commission will be asked to approve a Conditional Use Permit and a Variance Request at its meeting on Monday.

The coffee shop would be on the old potato warehouse site. That's a property that was bought by the Sauk Rapids EDA several years ago. It's a double lot that also had the Sauk Rapids Locker on it. It has been a vacant empty lot for several years.

The Conditional Use Permit is required for the drive-thru.

The variances are for the height of the building and the location of the building on the lot. Sauk Rapids has an ordinance that buildings downtown be within five feet of the right-of-way line. There's also an ordinance that all downtown buildings be two stories or at least look like they are. The owners are asking that both of those ordinances be waived.