Over the objections of many neighbors, the Duluth City Council approved plans Monday night to rezone a piece of property behind the Stone Ridge Shopping Center in Duluth Heights.
Sharon Mosiniak, who lives in the 900 block of Maple Grove Road, presented the council with a petition signed by 365 people against the rezoning.
"My legs are killing me," she said, "but I'd do it all again to save our little corner of the world."
Mosiniak and her neighbors sought to keep property on the south side of Maple Grove Road and east of Joshua Avenue zoned for residential, rather than commercial uses.
But the council voted 6-3 Monday to follow recommendations from the city planning commission and staff that the area be rezoned "mixed use-neighborhood."
ADVERTISEMENT
Voting for the zoning change were Councilors Patrick Boyle, Sharla Gardner, Jennifer Julsrud, Dan Hartman, Linda Krug and Emily Larson.
Voting against it were Councilors Garry Krause, Jay Fosle and Jim Stauber.
Proponents of the zoning change pointed to the city's comprehensive plan and a small area plan that had been conducted to examine the best future use of the area.
But Krause said neighbors had not understood what was being proposed until it was too late.
"This is a classic example of the train leaving without the people on board," he said. "That's broken government."
While Julsrud said public input is important, she said it's not the only consideration.
"You need to look at the big picture," she said.
"If we can't zone for development a stone's throw from the mall, where can we grow?" Julsrud asked.
ADVERTISEMENT
Duluth's Chief Administrative Officer David Montgomery said that if the city didn't allow for greater development of the mall corridor, it will likely migrate elsewhere, quite likely to Hermantown. He warned that the city would lose out on opportunities to expand its property tax base.
Keith Hamre, Duluth's director of planning and construction services, points out that "mixed use-
neighborhood" zoning is designed to provide a transition between residential and commercial development.
The proposed new zoning could allow retail businesses less than 15,000 square feet in size, filling stations, restaurants without drive-through windows, hotels, clinics, elementary schools, repair shops, office buildings, apartment buildings, transit stations and government buildings.
Hamre said the new zoning designation "allows for an intermixing of uses." He noted that any proposed development in the area would be subject to a site plan review by the planning commission. He also noted that landscaping and visual screening could be required to soften the edges between different types of development.
