Johnson Brothers Liquor Co., the third-largest wine distributor in the nation, is eyeing the former Blue Cross Blue Shield site in Eagan for a new warehouse distribution facility, but nearby homeowners have some concerns.

Mary Garry, who lives near Blackhawk Lake about a mile from the proposed site, said some 30 Eagan residents attended a meeting Wednesday night to voice their concerns and sign a petition against the potential rezoning of the site, which will be considered by the city council Tuesday.

The submitted concept plan hinges on rezoning the 55-acre former Blue Cross Blue Shield campus at 3535 Blue Cross Road from “major office” to “industrial development.” Blue Cross Blue Shield vacated the property over the summer, attributing the change to the company’s shift to a hybrid work model.

Johnson Bros., which was established in Minnesota in the 1950s, says it has outgrown its distribution facility at 1999 Shepard Road, near Crosby Farm Park in St. Paul.

The concept plan for the proposed distribution warehouse includes a 550,000-square-foot warehouse with a future expansion potential of 161,000 square feet, relocation of the neighborhood’s soccer fields to the southern end of the site and repurposing the existing child-care center into an employee training facility, as outlined at an advisory planning commission meeting held Nov. 28 where the planning commission voted 4-3 in favor of recommending the rezoning proposal.

If the city council votes in favor of forwarding the land-use amendment to the Metropolitan Council on Tuesday, future steps such as rezoning and site plan review of the proposal would still hinge on an environmental assessment with review and comments from residents and other government agencies, said Eagan City Planner Mike Schultz in an email Thursday.  

If the environmental assessment is accepted, the earliest a rezoning request would go through would likely be in spring 2024, Schultz said.

Neighborhood concerns

Traffic issues, the loss of green space, pollution levels and a lack of transparency from the city were discussed Wednesday night, said Garry, a professor at the University of Minnesota who has lived in the area for 15 years.

“Placement of a warehouse immediately adjacent to our residences and park is unwanted and undesirable,” reads the petition, which had yet to be sent to city officials on Thursday. “This is largely because we don’t believe that heavy truck traffic, warehouses, or liquor distribution centers belong embedded within our residential neighborhoods.”

The petition also noted that some residents object to a liquor distribution warehouse existing near the neighborhood’s soccer fields where children regularly play.

“For the vast majority of us, our home is our largest single asset. This rezoning request will only negatively affect our home values,” the petition reads.

Garry said she learned about the rezoning proposal through her neighbors via the Nextdoor app. She said Thursday that she has yet to receive an email or a letter from the city, but noted that there is a 10-by-15-inch sign on the Blue Cross Blue Shield site saying that it is under a rezoning proposal.

At the Nov. 28 meeting, Schultz said the city notified those within 350 feet of the property, per state statute, and also posted signage on the property and noted it on the city’s website.

Patrice and Chuck Callahan live a few hundred yards from the site and are working to inform their fellow neighbors of the potential change coming to their neighborhood.

The Callahans, who have lived in their home for 30 years, are part of a group that is canvassing the area in hopes of galvanizing their community to speak out against the potential rezoning of the area to industrial use. Patrice Callahan said she and her husband aren’t opposed to all rezoning and would be in favor of residential rezoning, or retail shops and schools that are in keeping with the neighborhood’s energy.

“If this office space can be rezoned, then there are a lot of other places in Eagan where this same thing can happen,” Garry said.

The city council meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, at Eagan City Hall.

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