Karin Cooper, architect with U.P. Engineers & Architects, gives a presentation about the new Keweenaw Co-Op site to the Hancock Planning Commission Monday night. Curt Webb, general manager of the co-op, is seated in front. (Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette)

HANCOCK — Plans for the new Keweenaw Co-Op location got an informal thumbs-up from the Hancock Planning Commission during a preliminary site plan review Monday.

Keweenaw Co-Op recently launched a capital campaign to help with its move to the former Keweenaw Chevrolet site along Quincy Street.

Except where necessary to create an opening for the store, the existing building will be demolished, said architect Karin Cooper of U.P. Engineers & Architects. Two additions will be built.

A 4,000-square-foot addition, including retail space, will bring the main floor to about 10,000 square feet, Cooper said. The move will bring the total retail space to about 7,500 square feet, up from about 4,200 now, said general manager Curt Webb.

In back, a two-story addition will include an elevator shaft that can lift deliveries upstairs, where there will be coolers and workspace.

“At first we were thinking it looked like a grain silo,” Cooper said. “Then it started to look like the Quincy Mine Hoist … this building probably has four different generations of construction on it… so we’re just adding to that, pulling some modern materials together, trying to give it a cohesive look.”

Customer parking will be to the west of the building off of Quincy Street. Employees will park in the back of the building on the Hancock Street side, which will also have a loading area. The basement will be used for product storage.

The new building will mostly use existing utilities, though a new water line will be brought in off of Hancock Street, said engineer Aaron Janke.

Stormwater runoff should be about the same, with no new impermeable surfaces, Janke said. Two new catch basins will be installed.

Cooper said a complete design should be ready by the end of June. By early August, there should be construction documents that are ready to go out to bid, she said.

If all goes as planned, the co-op will open in the new location in late summer 2023, Webb said.

Planning commission members were receptive.

“This is exciting,” said Susan Burack. “I’m so happy that the co-op is staying in Hancock. This is a great addition to the downtown.”

In other action, the commission:

– Heard a report from City Manager Mary Babcock. The city will host a Paint a Hydrant Night on June 7, where volunteers will help repaint hydrants throughout the city. She also prepared a map of city-owned parcels in Hancock. The city may try to sell some parcels to nearby property owners in order to consolidate property. A 7-acre site near the water tower is probably the biggest developable area owned by the city, Babcock said. The city is also working on pricing and marketing for parcel sales at the business and technology park.

– Heard an update from Burack on formulating a solar/wind power ordinance. Solar would be allowed in all districts primarily for residential power generation. For wind power, the height would be capped at 45 feet, which would exclude wind farms of the sort being proposed in Adams Township, said Planning Commission member Steve Walton.

– Heard from Babcock that the city is awaiting environmental assessments on property the city is seeking to purchase with the help of a grant to connect city properties near the Hancock shoreline.