No decision on Menard's site plan--Planning & Zoning Commission wants more time to study

Members of the Decorah Planning & Zoning Commission feel they are not yet ready to vote on the site plan for a proposed Menard's store on Old Stage Road.

The commission wants to wait for an official development plan for the store to be created.  P & Z member Stan Moellers said there were "so many contingencies" to the application that he would prefer having a written document.  Several changes have been made to the site plan since the commission first reviewed it last month. The city's Board of Adjustment, the Decorah City Council and the Iowa DNR will all get their chance to weigh in also on issues involving the proposed Menard's store, so Planning & Zoning Commission members felt it was better to take some time to get a few issues resolved.

The P&Z tabled the issue Monday night after holding a nearly two hour public hearing and commission discussion.  25 people spoke in opposition to Menard's application to rezone property at 1780 Old Stage Road C-4 Shopping Center Commercial.  Decorah resident Jim Fritz said the rezoning would not be wise because floods "are coming with increasing frequency."  Glenwood Township resident Steve McCargar told commission members, "You have the opportunity to protect the people of this community."  Another rural Decorah resident, Jon Jensen, urged the commission to think about the entire Upper Iowa Watershed, not just individual properties, saying, "Everything that happens in Decorah has a big impact downstream."