Crystal Enacts Moratorium on Town Center Redevelopment
Crystal is putting new development on hold in one of its main retail and commercial areas.
That means any plans to redevelop vacant sites like the former Walgreens building will be temporarily paused.
City officials say it’s part of a plan to re-envision what its Town Center might look like 25 years from now.
The city council approved a one-year zoning moratorium for the shopping areas near Bass Lake Road and West Broadway. The 220-acre space subject to the moratorium includes a mix of uses including retail, light industrial, residential and Becker Park.
Crystal is putting new development on hold in one of its main retail and commercial areas.
“Their concern was that, while they’re working on this vision, some type of development could come in that would not be appropriate and consistent with the vision that they seek,” said John Sutter, Crystal community development manager.
According to Sutter, building vacancy is low in Crystal compared with other cities, and developers are likely to have interest in the area.
While the Walgreens and a former bank building offer a fair amount of commercial space, developers may have more desire to build smaller buildings in the area’s parking lots.
“Where you take an under-utilized parking lot and the property owner says, ‘you know what, I’m going to carve this out and put something more useful on that land,” Sutter said. “So at a minimum I think we’re going to see more of that kind of development to kind of mop up this excess parking lot space that we have in that area.”
Routine projects like renovations or maintenance work won’t be blocked by the moratorium.
