MANKATO — A plan to demolish a small office building and three single-family homes near Mankato’s hospital to make room for a drive-through coffee shop prompted questions at Monday’s City Council meeting.
The council unanimously set a Sept. 11 public hearing for the requested land use plan amendment, but Council President Mike Laven asked staff to research some questions in advance of the hearing — including whether the developer can be forced to save the homes.
“Can we require relocation … instead of just being destroyed?” Laven wondered.
The new business would be on Dane Street near the intersection with Madison Avenue. Located just 300 feet from the $155 million 121-bed addition to the hospital, currently under construction, the planned coffee shop would be heavily focused on drive-through customers, according to plans filed with the city. Concepts show just six customer parking spots but a wrap-around drive-through lane that would hold as many as 17 vehicles.
To make room for the coffee shop, the developer plans to demolish a 1976 office building at 895 Madison Ave. that’s now the home of the Alliance Insurance Agency, along with three houses at 108, 112 and 116 Dane Street. The three post-World War II homes are owned by developer Van Tol Properties, as are most of the homes on that side of Dane between Madison Avenue and the hospital, and are now being rented.
The four parcels have a combined assessed market value of $917,600, and Laven also asked staff to calculate the expected taxable value of the coffee shop that would replace them.
In addition, Laven wondered if the Department of Public Safety could research whether the insurance agency’s close proximity to Madison Avenue has prompted vehicle crashes. One of the advantages of the redevelopment, according to the applicants, is that it would provide better sightlines for drivers at the busy intersection.
Laven didn’t indicate whether he opposes the project, stating only that it would be unreasonable to expect to get answers to the complicated questions if he waited until the Sept. 11 meeting to ask them.
“That would be hard to figure out on the fly,” he said of the information he was seeking.
An initial story in The Free Press about the coffee shop proposal prompted dozens of comments. Some were from readers opposed to anything adding traffic to that part of Dane Street (a traffic study estimates the shop would generate 866 vehicle visits on a typical weekday). Many other readers decried the loss of single-family homes in what they see as an unaffordable housing market.
One of the council’s top priorities is boosting workforce housing, and the city is currently attempting to launch a community land trust program that aims to create affordable home-ownership options for lower-income families — either through new construction or the purchase of existing homes.
If the council decides on Sept. 11 to amend the city’s land use plan to change the properties from “low-density residential” to “commercial,” it would be just the first of several council approvals Van Tol Properties would need to proceed with the yet-to-be-identified coffee shop. At subsequent meetings, the council would be asked to rezone the property, approve a conditional use permit for the drive-through, provide a certificate of design compliance and more.