Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 06/14/2018

Home

positive site and therefore that could be a positive site for other retailers as well. He stated that the City needs to take the role of master developer seriously and think about what is wanted for the future. Councilmember Riley stated that while he agrees that these would be good restaurant sites, restaurants are not knocking the door down to have that space. He stated that the market is bringing another grocery store and not everyone is in agreement with that. Community Development Director Gladhill stated that staff will bring the feedback to the developer that there is not full consensus and the developer will need to make the choice whether or not to move forward. Planning Commissioner Van Scoy stated that while he agrees that competition is healthy, he also agrees that this pad would be better used by other uses. He stated that he would prefer to have Aldi located in another area of The COR. Councilmember Riley asked if there is consensus that Aldi would be desired if there was another location chosen. EDA Member Kanaventi stated that most likely Aldi has a reason that they want that space and perhaps the City wants to find out if Aldi would accept another location. Planning Commissioner Bauer stated that the City should be careful not to protect a monopoly. He stated that there are grocers that could come in and would almost be guaranteed to put Coborn's out of business. He stated that Aldi would not impact Coborn's in the same way other grocers would. He asked if Aldi would be receptive to selecting another location within The COR. Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama replied that he is unsure of the response of Aldi as they have said that this is the site they want. Planning Commissioner Anderson agreed that Aldi is a different type of grocer and he would like to see it come in. He stated that he does not like this location as he would prefer a different business in that location. He stated that perhaps the City offer the site across the street, which he feels would be a better location, noting that there is already an entry to that site off Sunwood across from the Coborn's entry. Planning Commissioner Woestehoff noted that from a selling point that alternate location would be closer to residential which could be helpful for the business. He asked the amount of acreage that is dedicated to retail currently. He stated that there appears to be a large portion available and having two distinct large footprint buildings in the same parcel would be a skewed use of acreage. Mr. Pankratz identified the available retail acreage available. City Council Work Session / May 23, 2018 Page 7 of 14