WAYZATA — The Wayzata City Council voted 4–1 to approve Resolution 12-2026, advancing a planned unit development (PUD) general plan and preliminary plan for the Walser project at 1022 and 1042 Wayzata Boulevard East — the site currently occupied by Mulberry’s and a long-vacant former gas station parcel.

The action approved a package of requests that included a PUD general plan, preliminary plat and plan, five variances, and two design deviations. Several council members emphasized that the project’s next step — the final development agreement and final PUD documents — will carry added scrutiny and will be the mechanism for putting operational “guardrails” in writing.

“This site doesn’t lend itself to really that,” Council Member Ken Sorenson said, referring to higher-traffic retail uses the corridor often seeks. “I think the real critical issue on the site is access. And it begs for a low amount of traffic.” He added that the “real key issue” now is “making sure [the] development agreement [is] as specific as possible in the operation of [the] facility… if it really does operate like it’s being presented it’s a good use of the site but the concern is it kind of over time they move into something a little bit different.”

A Challenging Site With a New Proposal

City staff described the redevelopment as a full reset of the two-parcel site — demolition of the remaining dry cleaner building, combined parcel planning, and a new commercial building intended for boutique luxury auto sales and service.

Council discussion repeatedly returned to the location’s physical constraints: the unusual access patterns, the proximity to homes and apartments, and the legacy layout of curb cuts and grades.

Mayor Andrew Mullin noted he tried to pin down the timeline of the former station’s closure while reviewing the record. “I couldn’t identify exactly when the gas station had closed,” he said. “I can give you personal reference on when the gas station closed in 2010 or 2009… But the gas station had closed before I made that move.”

Walkability and the Sidewalk Buffer

One of the evening’s clearest points of alignment was the desire to improve walkability along Wayzata Boulevard East — and to use this redevelopment to move the corridor closer to the city’s long-term vision.

Council Member Alex Plechash said he was glad the plan no longer tried to “wrap a Lamborghini dealership around the dry cleaner,” which he said was the reason he opposed an earlier round. “It just didn’t make sense to me,” he said. “So I’m really happy that that result.”

Plechash also referenced the corridor’s design standards and the future the city has tried to shape. “We had this vision of Wayzata… 10, 20, 30 years from now,” he said. “And one feature of that was walkability and setback from the road which was a safety and aesthetic.”

Mayor Mullin said he appreciated the applicant’s willingness to adjust the sidewalk configuration to support that direction. “The willingness to partner with us on a change in how the sidewalk is configured for that buffer… now that you understand the context of kind of the migration that we’re trying to make over time all along the corridor,” he said.

The final motion to approve included an added condition aimed at a buffered sidewalk with standard trees and a public-private approach as the project proceeds into the final development agreement.

Setback and Residential Edges Remain a Flashpoint

The project’s most consistent tension point was how tightly some site elements sit near residential neighbors — particularly the parking setback and the overall feel of a commercial use pressing up against homes and apartments.

Council Member Molly MacDonald said neighborhood support weighed heavily in her decision, even as she remained uneasy about the project’s proximity to residences.

“The neighborhood support really weighed heavily on me,” MacDonald said. “Even with my own resistance to this idea, the neighbors supporting it is more important than my personal opinion.”

Still, she described lingering discomfort with the setback. “Our neighborhoods are… what makes Wayzata so special,” she said. “And having a commercial business so close to a residential neighborhood… I don’t love that idea.”

MacDonald pointed to the fence improvements but said she wished setbacks had been treated as non-negotiable. “The fence and the capacity of the fence is a really, really nice thing to do,” she said. “But I think it would have been a wonderful addition to abiding by the setbacks for the residents.”

She also noted the building’s growth from earlier iterations. “The building grew a thousand square feet,” she said. “So perhaps it could go back to its original size and then we would still be protected.”

MacDonald also asked the applicant to provide real-world benchmarks — test drives, appointments, and service volume — from other boutique Lamborghini dealerships. Walser responded that comparable stores are private businesses and often aren’t willing to share internal metrics, and said some of those operations don’t track test-drive counts in a way that produces clear monthly figures, which kept the discussion focused on writing enforceable operational limits into the development agreement.

Support from Nearby Neighbors

Two speakers spoke in support during public comment, including Gordy Straka, who urged the council to weigh existing noise and enforcement realities along the corridor.

“They’ve been really good to deal with,” Straka said of the applicant team. On concerns about engine noise, he added: “this noise thing, everybody concerned about it, it’s ridiculous… If you’ve got a law, let’s enforce it.”

Straka also argued the proposed use is preferable to other high-traffic concepts the city has seen. “And we’re all in favor of this because it should be a little volume than what the last thing you proposed with a drive-through coffee,” he said.

A second supportive speaker, Greg Hoglund — an owner of the adjacent apartment building — told the council he and his wife support the project despite being among the closest impacted neighbors.

“Normally the person next to the development is opposed to it,” he said. “I and my wife are in favor of it, okay?”

He said stormwater and drainage have been longstanding problems. “There is probably 50 years of water damage,” he said. “Number one, you’re gonna fix your water problem for a lot of residents. That is a big thing.”

He also credited the applicant’s outreach. “They have been extremely collaborative and open-minded and willing to work with us,” he said, calling it “the opposite of any developer I’ve ever dealt with living next to it.”

Future Use Guardrails and the Development Agreement

Even with approval, multiple council members stressed that the development agreement must be precise about what the business is — and what it cannot become later.

Mayor Mullin said he shared concerns about “unintended consequences for a future user.”

“We wouldn’t want unintended consequences of somebody picking up this for a car use that is different than what we intended in terms of boutique sales,” he said.

Mullin said his comfort level increased if the operation is lower-intensity than past or current uses. “What gave me some comfort is if the use is lower than the existing dry cleaner,” he said, adding that the city wants “parameters in that development agreement that prevent future change… because it runs in the land.”

Council Member Dan Koch said he viewed the proposal as a quieter option than some past ideas. “I think this is a much better use,” he said. “I think it will be quieter… as good of a use for this property with traffic and noise as we can get.”

What Happens Next

While the council approved the PUD general plan and preliminary plan, staff and council made clear that additional actions remain ahead, including final PUD documents and a development agreement intended to incorporate the council’s operational conditions and the updated sidewalk-buffer concept.

Council members signaled that future review will focus on ensuring the final language matches the intent expressed during the meeting — particularly around residential edges, walkability and the long-term limits on how the site can be used.

As Sorenson put it, the project can be a fit — but only if it stays true to what’s being presented now. “If it really does operate like it’s being presented it’s a good use of the site,” he said.