City denies rezoning, Dollar General has alternate site

The Greenbush City Council unanimously denied Dollar General’s rezoning application to build on this property, 403 Hwy 32 S, during its regularly scheduled meeting on March 20. Also at the meeting, the city announced that Dollar General had found an alternate commercially zoned property a short distance north of this one on Highway 32 next to Coop West in Greenbush. (photo by Ryan Bergeron)

The Greenbush City Council unanimously denied Dollar General’s rezoning application, but the store chain, finding an alternate location after the city public hearing on March 6, still plans to build a store in Greenbush. The public voiced some last thoughts and Jacob Stauffer, with the Dollar General developer, provided some info and responded to questions and concerns at the city’s regularly scheduled meeting in the Greenbush Community Center on March 20.

After listening to input at the public hearing earlier this month and consulting its attorney on the rezoning application’s eight criteria, the city arrived at its decision to deny the application. Before announcing its decision, Mayor Brenda Sather said that the city did receive much feedback from the hearing and discovered many factual findings while visiting with its attorney. 

Mayor Sather reiterated a message she delivered during the public hearing. Whether Dollar General would come in or not, she explained how the business’ success remains up to the community. She hopes the community pride and shop local attitude that she heard at the public hearing continues. 

“You have a right not to shop there,” Sather said. 

But again, she reiterated how the council was only deciding on the rezoning of this property, and how Dollar General has an alternate site chosen. 

As Stauffer explained, it is Dollar General’s plan to build a store in Greenbush, even if it would have to build a little out of town, earlier on stating how they would like to make it work in the community

After being contacted by Shawn Burkel on March 8, 2017, Dollar General discovered another possible site to build, a commercially zoned property Burkel is willing to sell, one located near Coop West along Highway 32. Moving to this site would necessitate demoing of buildings and having to build out of the flood plain, according to a Dollar General map depicting sites it looked into in Greenbush. This document also stated that moving to this site would delay the project by a year. 

Next Meeting:

The council’s next regularly scheduled meeting will take place on Monday, April 17, at 5:30 pm in the Greenbush Library Conference Room.   

To see more of the story, read the March 22 issue of The Tribune.