A moratorium on commercial/retail construction on the Highway 61 corridor in Grand Marais is being enacted in part because of the possibility of a Dollar General store—perhaps like this one in Albert Lea, Minnesota—coming to the city. City councilors want some time to review and possibly modify the city’s zoning regulation.
In response to citizen concerns, Grand Marais city councilors voted February 10, 2016 to impose a moratorium on large-scale building construction along Highway 61 at both the east and west ends of the city limits.
The action came two days after a special three-hour council meeting at which more than 80 people filled City Hall to voice their misgivings about construction of a proposed Dollar General store on Highway 61 next to the closed Harbor Light Supper Club. A similar round of comments was also heard by the city’s planning commission at its February 3 meeting.
In essence, those opposed to the establishment of Dollar General or any other big box store cite as reasons the negative impact such a store would have on the area’s aesthetics, and the detrimental effect such a store would have on the local economy due to the competitive advantages a large discount store would enjoy over the city’s smaller, locally owned businesses.
At Wednesday’s regular council meeting, Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux allowed 15 minutes of public comment on the topic, asking only those who did not speak at Monday’s meeting to address council. A handful of residents offered their opinions, all but one speaking in favor of the new store. Their reasons centered on the need for a place to shop affordably, creation of new jobs, and the convenience of finding discounted items without traveling to Duluth.
Bev Green, director of the Senior Center, said she is still on the fence about the issue, but knows for sure there are a lot of people who are on a “very fixed” income and would welcome the opportunity offered by a local discount store. Green urged councilors to look at both sides of the dilemma before enacting a moratorium.
The mayor said that since the special meeting, he had received many e-mails and listened to numerous comments in support of free enterprise, most of them stating that it’s not the city’s place to limit growth. He also cited a second petition that was making the rounds, garnering signatures of those who supported the discount store. “We’re in a very interesting situation here–how do we deal with this?” Arrowsmith DeCoux asked. “My brain is split in half by the conversation, and personally I need more time.”
Before voting to enact the moratorium, councilors stressed that they were not taking any position for or against the proposal–the action is meant to give the city planners more time to conduct a thoughtful and careful review of the zoning regulations and make adjustments as needed.
Councilor and planning commission chairman Tim Kennedy said he believed that was the right course of action, especially in light of the many comments received and the “urgency” of the situation. He also pointed out that the zoning districts and regulations in question–Service Commercial/Industrial–are “among the most antiquated and [most] in need of review of our ordinances.”
It was noted that those ordinances were written in the 1970s and haven’t been revised since.
Following discussion, council voted to commit to a study and review, with an eye toward revision, of the Service C/I zone standards, including an assessment of the impacts any changes would have; suspended the normal procedural rules and approved two readings of the interim ordinance at a single meeting, rather than at two separate meetings, in the interest of expediency; and approved the moratorium ordinance (2016- 01), which prohibits construction of any commercial retail development over 5,000 square feet in the districts zoned C/I along the highway on each end of town.
The moratorium will take effect upon publication in this edition of the News-Herald, and will remain in effect for up to one year, until council makes any regulatory adjustments deemed necessary.
In other business
. Council approved the issuance of a full liquor license to the American Legion, a move made necessary by the organization’s decision to lease its facility to a private operator to be run as a restaurant. City Administrator Mike Roth said the change in operation “makes it very clear” that the Legion is no longer eligible for a club license granted to fraternal organizations.
. George Wilkes and Staci Drouillard of the Cook County Local Energy Project (CCLEP) presented a synopsis of the agency’s accomplishments over the past year, particularly in the areas of solar electric education and awareness; energy efficiency; and
the continuing success of the REEP Program and the recent builders’ workshop. Council granted CCLEP’s request for a $2,000 contribution to help keep its programs running another year, the same amount donated last year.
. Council held a pre-meeting work session to discuss a timeline and budget for a planned public works garage on the site of the former Tomteboda Lodge. Councilors decided to ask LHB, the city’s architect for the project, to provide some new schematic designs that incorporate the city’s administrative offices and/ or the municipal liquor store into the plan.
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