A proposed Holiday gas station on Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis probably won't go ahead after it was turned down Thursday for longer operating hours, a company executive said.
Minneapolis rejects Holiday's bid for gas station on Cedar Av.
April 25, 2008 at 4:44AM
"We're disappointed. We'd very much like to be there," said Dave Hoeschen, Holiday's vice president for real estate.
The company wanted to build a gas station of about 18 pumps and a car wash in the 3500 block of Cedar. But the City Council's Zoning and Planning Committee agreed with neighboring residents who opposed Holiday's bid for extended hours.
Holiday originally applied to be open 24 hours daily. Planning staff recommended that it be allowed 135 hours weekly, three more each day than allowed without a permit.
But the city's Planning Commission limited operations to the standard 114 hours for the area's zoning, and Holiday appealed to the council. The committee rejected the appeal, a decision expected to be ratified May 2 by the full council.
Peter Roos, representing the station, argued that nearby neighbors would be adequately screened from the property. He said the extended hours would help the station economically, too. "It's a significant amount of money for my client," Roos said.
Neighborhood staffer Eric Gustafson said that residents don't want to set a precedent for extended hours, because of past problems with a nearby gas station at 34th and Cedar.
"This is a nice quiet neighborhood. We're not Uptown," he said. "We don't strive to be Uptown."
Area Council Member Gary Schiff, who chaired the Zoning and Planning Committee, said extended hours would be more appropriate on Lake Street than Cedar.
STEVE BRANDT
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