Time is running out for the city of Grand Marais to enact a new ordinance for its C/I Zone.
With the February 2017 deadline for a Grand Marais moratorium stopping any commercial development over 4,000 square feet (pending review of the city’s zoning and planning) ending, the city has to scramble to figure out what to do.
The moratorium came about in the fall of 2015 after Dollar General proposed building a 4,000 square foot store on the western edge of Grand Marais along Highway 61.
Although Dollar General had some supporters, more than 1,500 people signed a petition asking the big box retailer to end its quest to locate in Grand Marais.
Those against Dollar General didn’t want to see a big box store built near the entrance of Grand Marais (next to the Harbor Light Supper Club) because of aesthetics and some said the large discount chain would have too much of a competitive advantage over locally owned businesses in town.
Dollar General is located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. All of its stores are corporate owned.
With national retail sales of $18 to $19 billion, Dollar General is a bargain retail chain selling a range of household goods, beauty products, groceries, over the counter medicines and more.
Each store typically is open seven days from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and averages $1.5 million in annual sales.
Following several public meetings with the majority of people speaking out against the large retail store, the city enacted a moratorium on commercial development of structures 4,000 square feet or larger within the city limits.
At the city council meeting held on December 14, Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith- DeCoux gave an update on the committee he serves on which is tasked with coming up with a new C/I ordinance. Arrowsmith- DeCoux said the process to draft a new ordinance would not be done by the time the moratorium expires.
In light of this, said Arrowsmith-DeCoux, the committee has come up with three options.
The first is to continue the current process, which includes meeting with the public. This option won’t be completed in time before the moratorium ends and there will be no change in what types of development will be allowed in the C/I Zone, which would leave the city exposed to a company like Dollar General moving in and building a large store.
The second idea is to draft new language for the C/I Zone consistent with what the city discussed before calling for a moratorium.
That idea, said Arrowsmith- DeCoux, would preclude community involvement which he said wasn’t a good plan.
Last, the final option would be to draft language that would update the current ordinance and adopt it on an interim basis until the community could weigh in with suggestions. Arrowsmith- DeCoux said this would offer the city some protections against an “unwanted” development coming into the city until such a time as the new C/I ordinance could be completed. The drawback, said Arrowsmith-DeCoux, is that the language in the interim ordinance would be inadequate. However, the mayor said he didn’t think it would be wise to make the temporary ordinance permanent because he didn’t believe it would be what many people in the city want.
Arrowsmith-DeCoux said the council would devote more time to discussing this issue shortly.
The clock is ticking on the moratorium, so action must be forthcoming soon, or it will end.
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