Another Wait For Proposed Roseville Wal-Mart Store

The vote on a proposed Wal-Mart megastore in Roseville's Twin Lakes area is on hold yet again.

In a statement Tuesday morning, April 16; the city of Roseville said a Council vote on the Wal-Mart plat has been indefinitely delayed after it received a citizens' petition on Monday requesting that an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) be conducted on the proposed project.

"The Minnesota Environmental Quality Board is currently determining the validity of the petition," the city said. "While this issue is pending, the city can not take any action with regard to the proposed plat for the Walmart development. Therefore, the Wal-Mart plat has been removed from the April 23rd City Council agenda and no action will occur at that time."

This is the fourth delay on the Wal-Mart project. The City Council was first scheduled to hear the Wal-Mart issue on Feb. 27; then the matter was rescheduled to March 26 and then again to the Council's April 23 meeting.

The giant Arkansas-based discounter wants to build a 160,000 square-foot store on about a 14-acre parcel of land that is bounded by County Road C, Cleveland Avenue, Twin Lakes Parkway and Prior Avenue.  The proposal is also being advanced by owners of the property, Roseville Properties.

"At this point, it is undetermined when the Wal-Mart plat or the citizens petition will be considered by the City Council," the city said Tuesday. "Once the next steps are known and meeting dates are set", the city will communicate the process through its website and its City News Updates list. View the background information and preliminary plat submitted to the Planning Commission.

Residents who have questions or comments can contact City Planner Thomas Paschke at 651-792-7074 or at thomas.paschke@ci.roseville.mn.us

In early February, the Roseville Planning Commission  voted 5-1 to recommend supporting a preliminary plat for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  to build a new big-box store in the city's Twin Lakes area.

At that Planning Commission meeting, some residents contended there hadn't be enough public notice about the proposal and questioned whether Roseville needs more retail development.

More recently, a group of (Solidarty of West  Area Roseville Neighbors  whose web site is http://swarn.info ) held an informational meeting on the Wal-Mart proposal, seeking to mobilize residents on the issue and spur citizen involvement. A group of 50 to 60 people attended, packing a downstairs meeting room at City Hall.

The Planning Commission's vote to support the Wal-Mart preliminary plat came after city staff recommended approval, stating the preliminary plat falls within Roseville's comprehensive plan and zoning code, including a District 10 master plan for the Twin Lakes area.

However, organizers of SWARN have taken issue with that recommendation.

"The Twin Lakes Master Plan calls for mixed use of the Twin Lakes area, but both the current zoning code and the Twin Lakes Plan allow retail as part of that mixed use," SWARN organizer Gary Grefenberg said recently. "The question remains, however, what type of other mixed uses such as office and condominium development will be attracted to Twin Lakes when the first major development is a Wal-Mart Big Box. 

"Will Twin Lakes eventually become an extension of Rosedale, but a cheaper version with even more big boxes and cut-throat retail no matter what the Twin Lakes Plan envisioned?," Grefenberg asked.