La Crosse plan commission rejects zoning exception against downtown coffee kiosk proposal

A drive-thru coffee kiosk in downtown La Crosse is being proposed to city leaders this week.

A company called Northern Grounds has plans to put the kiosk in a downtown parking lot at 3rd and La Crosse streets, near the old La Crosse Tribune office.

There’s just one hiccup — the block is zoned for buildings at least two stories tall.

Zack Mueller of Northern Grounds asked Monday for an exemption from the City Plan Commission.

“(The lot) isn’t very big,” Mueller said. “It’s hard to imagine a skyscraper going there, or even a multi-tenant, multi-story building, to be honest. It’s only .4 acres.”

Mueller said the company actually wanted to put a full coffee house on the lot but that would require at least .75 acres.

The city’s two-story minimum requirement is designed to enhance an urban look for downtown La Crosse.

City planner Andrea Trane said multi-story zoning for that section of downtown is called for in order to encourage business development that covers less ground.

“Looking at wanting to build up, rather than the limited opportunities that we have to build out, and to try to keep with that urban design of our downtown as it’s meant to be,” is how Trane explained it during the meeting.

The exemption was turned down, but the plan will be considered again Tuesday night by the city council Judiciary and Administration Committee.