The Duluth Planning Commission heard a special use permit application from St. James Catholic Church to expand its parking lot from 53 to 88 spaces. A church and parking is not a permitted use in an R-1, or “residential,” district; it is nonconforming. The project will require the demolition of four single-family homes and one duplex — six housing units — adjacent to the church. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the special use permit application on a 5-0 vote (“ West Duluth church seeks more parking,” March 11).
For decades, Duluth has been known for difficulties associated with its city planning department. Every mayor elected since 1980 has promised to improve the performance of the department, and every mayor has failed. The withdrawal of Costco from our market is only the latest fiasco that can be laid at the feet of department managers and city leaders (“ Costco cancels purchase deal for local site,” March 28).
A move of several hundred feet may not sound all that significant, but it is when what's being moved is noisy helicopter traffic and where it's being moved is closer to your home, neighbors of Duluth's St. Luke's Hospital are contending.
After two years of research, meetings, and public input, the Duluth City Council, in August 2018, adopted an update to the Comprehensive Plan, called Imagine Duluth 2035. This plan is intended to guide the future development of the city over the ...
The Oct. 24 story, "Preserving the rails," about the effort to grant the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad (LS&M) a "local landmark designation," was informative. Yet it needs some clarification.
The Lower Spirit Mountain River Access proposal went through a thorough vetting process. And while it was brought before the Parks Commission on Feb. 14 and was met with a split vote of 6-4 against recommending the project to the City Council, it...
Airbnb-style vacation rentals proved popular in Duluth in 2017, and city leaders now are wrestling with how to respond, as a story in Sunday's News Tribune detailed.
