Duluth Council OKs Path For Kwik Trip Near Proctor

DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth City Council voted Monday night to rezone property near Proctor from residential to mixed-use, which allows a Kwik Trip development to move forward.

The vote came down to a 5-3 vote with councilors Joel Sipress, Gary Anderson and Howie Hanson voting against the rezoning and Elissa Hansen absent.

The parcels of land are at Boundary Avenue and U.S. Hwy 2.

Most of the resistance to the Kwik Trip have come from business owners and residents of Proctor who have said this in the past:

“Every place they build a mom and pop operation has gone out of business and I don’t know why this would be any different,” said Wade LeBlanc, owner of Mobile gas station in Proctor.

And this was the pitch made by Kwik Trip during a community meeting in May:

“What we’re looking to do is bring what people need every day to bring home. The milk, the eggs, the butter, the condiments that we all need every day at a value. Since we’ve moved into the Duluth market we’ve brought a lot of upgrades to the community, beautiful stores, jobs,” said Bridget Field, a Kwik Trip District Leader.

With the rezoning now approved by the council, Kwik Trip can request a special-use permit for the land through the Duluth Planning Commission.  That permit would go through a review process before being denied or approved.