A controversial decision to rezone a piece of land near Miller Hill Mall has Duluth City Councilor Garry Krause calling for a rethink of zoning rules.
On Monday, he introduced a resolution asking Duluth's Planning Commission to re-examine the type of development that should be allowed under a "mixed-use neighborhood" designation. The resolution passed with unanimous council support.
Krause faulted the current mixed-use neighborhood zoning as overly broad and said it allows "almost anything under the sun."
The council recently approved the rezoning of an area on the south side of Maple Grove Road to mixed-use neighborhood against the wishes of many neighbors and despite a petition against the action signed by 365 residents.
The designation currently allows the development of 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, among other things.
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Krause said he would like to see some subcategories that would allow for less intensive development in areas directly adjacent to residential neighborhoods.
Drew Digby, president of the Duluth Planning Commission, said he and fellow members would gladly review the zoning and consider modifications but stopped short of committing to any change when asked about the resolution Monday.
Ideally, Digby said areas zoned mixed-use neighborhood would be home to businesses that serve the neighborhood, not development that draws in large amounts of traffic from distant markets.
But Digby said it can be difficult to distinguish between a neighborhood restaurant and a destination-type dining establishment, such as an Olive Garden or a Texas Roadhouse.
"It may be hard to draw a line legally between one kind of restaurant and another," he said.
