I really think that my biggest concern would be the noise and you have to be really conscious of that.”

Commission Member James Ericksen

The conditional use permit for Meyer Machine LLC., a home business at the residence of Jason and Charlotte at 308 Dahl St., was approved by the City Council after recommendation by the City of Stanley’s Planning Commission. Alderperson Jason Meyer had a different view for the Plan Commission meeting on Monday, August 5th as he sat on the other side of the table with his son, Gregory and his wife, Charlotte. Jason told the Council that along with his son, Marcus, his family had formed a LLC and wanted to start a machine shop.
“We’d like to start it in our garage as a part time side hustle,” said Jason and explained that as the part time business would be housed in the garage with the office in the house and as the business grew to full time, the plan was to move it out of the garage into a different facility.
“We’d like to do engineering design services with 3D CAD and CNC machining of various projects.” He added that the business would have a 3D printer and “the goal is to manufacture plastic and small metal fabrications, small parts using what’s known as a personal or mini-CNC machine or 3D printer.”
The shop would house a small welding machine, 3D printer, and small machine shop tools including, a hack saw, small lathe, and personal CNC milli-mill. Meyer mentioned that for standard daily operation the materials would be brought in with vans or standard delivery trucks and materials would be shipped in the same manner so large heavy trucks would not be required on the street. The proposed shop would not be open to the public so parking spaces for customers is not needed.
“The coolant we use nowadays is nontoxic so it’s not harmful,” added Gregory as he explained the process of the proposed machine shop. Gregory mentioned that the noise level will vary but should stay low the majority of the time. “Probably no more than eighty decibels,” he said per the decibel meter they used to check the noise level of the machinery. Jason chimed in that the shop is insulated to cut down on the noise and they can use mass loaded vinyl, a sound deadening material, if needed.
“The only concern I would have would be the noise,” stated Commission Member James Ericksen as Jason mentioned that the business hours of operation would be evenings and weekends. “You’re obviously not going to be doing this 8 to 5 during normal business hours. It’s going to be at some oddball hours. I really think that my biggest concern would be the noise and you have to be really conscious of that.”
Erickson motioned to approve the conditional use for the home business, and it was quickly approved. Mayor Mike Henke thanked the Meyer family for their honesty and engagement with the Plan Commission.
“I thank you for coming because I’m sure there’s a lot of businesses in town that are in the garage that we never hear about.”
“We are committed to running this as a true business. We’d like to develop credit history and all that so when it’s time for us to expand outside of our garage we have our full history to make that possible,” answered Jason.