P&Z Approves Kwik Stop Expansion, Other Permits
St. Paul’s Kwik Stop location will soon be expanding.
Last Monday afternoon, during the St. Paul Planning and Zoning Commission’s first meeting in almost two months, members of the commission voted unanimously to approve a zoning permit application for an addition to the Kwik Stop located at 710 Second Street in St. Paul.
According to St. Paul Planning and Zoning Administrator Matt Helzer and the convenience store’s zoning permit application, the scope of the project will include a twenty-nine-foot by twenty- nine-foot addition on the north side of the store. The stated purpose of the addition will be a “walkin cooler upgrade/cooler ‘cave.’” “That will be going on the north side of the building,” said Helzer during his report to the commissioners. “We were supposed to have the permit a while back, but the gal that was in charge of it didn’t get it mailed to us. Once we saw all the stuff coming in over there, I got ahold of him, and he thought the permit had been submitted.”
The project, which the zoning application noted should only take around a month to complete, garnered only a few questions from members of the planning and zoning commission, despite some clarification on Helzer’s part concerning the configuration of the property.
“There used to be an alley going east and west between the Kwik Stop and Subway,” Helzer noted. “The city vacated it. That allowed Subway to build further over.
“Right now, a lot of the drive-thru for Subway, they are using the Kwik Stop’s property. The owner of Kwik Stop knows it.”
Helzer said that the owner of Kwik Stop had no issue with the situation involving the Subway drive-thru, and added that the expansion at the convenience store won’t impact the current drive-thru.
“He is keeping his building off far enough it won’t jeopardize that,” said the zoning administrator. “It won’t affect it at all. He wants to be a good neighbor.”
Since the city vacated the alley, the city has maintained an easement there; however, Helzer guessed that, when the Subway building was built, it had been “right on” the edge of the alley, or maybe even in the alley “a little bit,” but said that city leaders had allowed the building’s construction at that time.
Helzer stressed that the addition at Kwik Stop would not encroach on the easement.
As a part of the zoning application, a cover letter was sent to city leaders concerning the project on February 28th. In that letter, Kwik Stop President and CEO Dan O’Neill noted that, in addition to the addition to accommodate “a new walk-in cooler,” the plan was to tear out the old walk-in cooler and replace the floor to make “more floor space.” The president and CEO wrote that “the rest of the store, including the restroom, will remain as is, with the exception of relocating the current office...”
Helzer, during discussion on the permit last Monday, noted that the project was “quite the investment.”
In addition to the permit for the Kwik Stop expansion, members of the St. Paul Planning and Zoning Commission also voted to approve six other zoning permits last Monday afternoon. Among those was a permit for a new home at 1212 Wallace Street.
“They cleared all of the trees out of that lot,” noted Helzer in reference to the location of the house, which will be bordered by M Street to the north.
The proposed new home met all of the setback requirements, with there also being an easement at the “back” of the property for the city’s storm sewer. However, Helzer said that the home would be “way off” of the easement.
A fact highlighted by the zoning administrator was that the new home will be built facing west; however, since Wallace Street is not a through street for that half-block, access will be provided from the south.
“They don’t want the road open,” Helzer told the commissioners. “They will access it off the back road, from the south. The driveway will come from the south.”
Other zoning permit applications approved by the St. Paul Planning and Zoning Commission included a fence at 1105 Grand Street, a deck at 228 Bruce Circle, a fence at 217 Bruce Circle, a shed at 915 Baxter Street, and a storage shed at 920 Jackson Street.
It was noted in discussion on the sixth permit for the new shed on Jackson Street that the project did not meet current setback requirements. However, it can move forward as it met a rule in the city’s zoning ordinance that allowed it due to it being positioned further back than other structures on the block.
With no further business, members of the St. Paul Planning and Zoning Commission elected to adjourn at 12:16 p.m., fourteen minutes after being gaveled into session.