After a year of research, during the one-year moratorium on small-box variety stores (such as Dollar General), the Watkins city council adopted Jan. 9 an ordinance to amend the city’s zoning ordinance that would clearly specify how and where a small-box variety store could be built. The moratorium ended a few days later, on Jan. 11. As part of its research, the city and council sought advice from the city attorney, and held several public hearings on the subject.
The ordinance specifies that a small-box variety store may only be placed in an M-1 Industrial District zone. All other zoning districts in the city of Watkins now specifically prohibit use for a small-box variety store.
It should be noted that, previous to this ordinance, there was no zoned district approved for small-box variety stores within the -Watkins Zoning Ordinance.
Small-box variety stores have been added to a list of other uses in the M-1 Industrial District that requires a Conditional Use Permit from the Watkins Planning Commission. Other similarly limited uses include grain elevators, car sales lots, cement manufacture, and cannabis/hemp businesses.
This ordinance change does not prevent a small-box variety store from coming to town. But it assigns the M-1 Industrial District as the only allowable location, and requires a Conditional Use Permit as well.
The piece of land on which a developer had hoped to build a Dollar General is not located in an M-1 Industrial District.