Proposed Roseville Wal-Mart Store Gets Final Approval

The Wal-Mart store proposed for Roseville's Twin Lakes area gained final approval with two narrow votes at the City Council’s Monday meeting.

In two 3-2 votes, the Council adopted, as the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, findings that the discounter is a permitted use under Roseville's zoning code and granted Wal-Mart a development agreement by awarding it “final plat approval.”

Council members Tammy Pust and Tammy McGehee cast the dissenting votes on both motions.

“I still believe that this is not a permitted use and there’s a conflict between the zoning and the comprehensive plan and under those circumstances the comprehensive plan [takes priority],” McGehee said.

As part of the agreement, Wal-Mart agrees to spend $400,000 on a highway interchange project, clean up property under a plan approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, commit $411,000 to park dedication fees and negotiate a cost-sharing proposal with Roseville Police to recoup the city’s law enforcement costs.

“You’re going to have a lot more people seeing the Wal-Mart sign off of 35W than you have seeing the Wal-Mart sign in Brooklyn Center off of Highway 100,” Police Chief Rick Mathwig said at the meeting.

Council member Robert Willmus said that while he did not personally desire a Wal-Mart in Twin Lakes area, he expects the store to serve as “a generator to bring people in.

“I have come to the realization that Wal-Mart may not be what I ultimately envision on that parcel, but I do believe that it is compliant with our zoning code and our comprehensive plan,” Willmus said. “I don’t believe a Wal-Mart in Roseville will degrade our local economy; I think, frankly, the counter.”

Council member Jeff Johnson said he looked strictly at the relevant laws and regulations while making his decision to grant approval to Wal-Mart.

“I believe it is a permitted use, and I vowed going into this that that’s what I’d look at—nothing else,” Johnson said.