Arden Hills eases restrictions on some thrift stores, in some places

Easing its opposition to thrift stores, the Arden Hills City Council on Tuesday decided to allow the secondhand goods sellers to operate in a few more spots in the northern metro suburb.

The approval of the new ordinance wasn’t unanimous, passing by a vote of 3-2, and followed a sometimes testy exchange as one council member made it clear she wasn’t a fan.

“I just wouldn’t want Arden Hills to be known as thrift store city,” said Council Member Brenda Holden, who voted against the measure.

The new ordinance creates two classes of thrift stores, one smaller and the other larger than 7,000 square feet, and allows the smaller shops to operate in more places throughout the city, including a desirable stretch of Lexington Avenue north of County Road E. The larger thrift stores must get a conditional use permit, which requires City Council approval.

The vote comes a few months after a local business operator, Brett Foss, opened a thrift shop in the Arden Plaza strip mall only to learn after his opening day that city zoning laws forbid him to operate there. Foss said Tuesday that he’s been allowed to stay open while the city zoning question was reviewed.

“It’s been overwhelming,” he said, with frequent communication with the city and concern that he may eventually have to shut down.

It’s still not clear what Tuesday’s vote will mean for his business. Although the new ordinance means his business is now in an area that allows thrift shops, Foss or his landlord will need to apply for a change to the planned unit development (PUD). City rules say a change to the businesses within the development requires the approval of four out of five members of the City Council.

Arden Hills Mayor David Grant, who was the other “nay” vote on the zoning ordinance, said he’s keeping an open mind on Foss’ thrift business.

“At this point, I’ll wait to see the PUD amendment,” he said.

Grant said he’s reviewed city records and emails between Foss and city staff going back two years and determined that Foss knew the business wasn’t allowed by zoning at Arden Plaza, but he opened it there anyway.

“Is the community being harmed, no it’s not being harmed,” Grant said. The problem is that “he knew that he wasn’t permitted to move in. He moved in anyway. ... I kinda got a problem with that.”

As Foss prepares to apply for a city business permit, he said he’s collected some 900 signatures in support of his shop and continues to do business as best as he can.

“The store is in upheaval,” he said.

The city’s embattled history with thrift stores goes back a decade, when Goodwill moved to open its 40th location in Minnesota at an Arden Hills address.

The City Council then opposed the move but lost a legal challenge to Goodwill. Shortly after the thrift store opened in 2016, the city passed an ordinance prohibiting thrift stores anywhere in Arden Hills except for an area a block west of Lexington Avenue, away from traffic.

Holden, who was on the council when that zoning change was made, said Tuesday that she wanted to see the new ordinance amended to at least restrict the locations where a larger thrift store could open.

“I reserve my right to restrict the number of thrift stores as I see fit,” she said.

Council Member Kurt Weber said he supported relaxing the city’s near ban on thrift stores.

“There’s a lot of outcry for it in our city,” he said.

The city is already in the midst of a major rewriting of its zoning code with the help of a consultant. Weber said those changes will take time to implement but, in his opinion, were overdue.

“I’ve always felt that Arden Hills zoning was restrictive,” he said.