Xcel Energy & City of Northfield Alternative Urban Areawide Review 

Final Alternative Urban Areawide Review

The final draft of the AUAR has been completed following the 30-day comment period that began July 18, 2023 and ended August 17, 2023. The City accepted written comments via mail, email and online. Comments are part of the official record of the AUAR process. The AUAR has been submitted to the Environmental Quality Board and is subject to a 10-day objection period. The City Council is set to review and give final approval of the AUAR at their November 7, 2023 meeting.

Download the Final Alternative Urban Areawide Review (PDF)

Overview

The City of Northfield has approved an order to complete an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) for the Northwest Development Area. An AUAR is a tool used to understand how different development scenarios will affect the environment of your community before development occurs. The process is designed to look at the cumulative impacts of anticipated development scenarios within a given geographic area. Environmental analysis information from an AUAR can be used to inform local planning and zoning decisions. 

Location

The AUAR study area encompasses approximately 780 acres, located north of North Avenue, East of Holyoke Avenue and and west of Cedar Avenue in Northfield, Dakota County, Minnesota.

Development scenarios

Two development scenarios are proposed to be evaluated in the AUAR. 

Scenario A

Scenario A represents a potential single tech user with potential additional business park elements (Figure 1).

Scenario B

Scenario B represents the current scenario in the City’s 2008 Comprehensive Plan, which could be a multi-user business park (Figure 2).

Draft Alternative Urban Areawide Review

A link to the draft AUAR is below for reference.

Download the Draft Alternative Urban Areawide Review (PDF)