If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck … does that make it a duck? Plans for a 40,000-square-foot grocery store whose owner is being kept secret were recommended for approval Monday, Sept. 27, by the Eden Prairie Planning Commission. The schematic drawings for what’s being called “Flying Cloud Commons Grocery Store” show a building façade similar to those used for Amazon Fresh grocery stores; the developer on Monday noted that its client is a national grocer; and Toronto-based NORR, listed as architect for the Eden Prairie project, has been linked to other…
Author: Mark Weber
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Mark Weber
Mark joined the Eden Prairie News as a reporter in 1979, just five years after its start, and spent the next 34 years in various roles including editor and publisher, as well as general manager of the parent company, Southwest Newspapers. He also published Edible Twin Cities magazine. His encore career was serving the nonprofit Eden Prairie Community Foundation as executive director. Mark is now retired. He and his wife, Roma, have two grown sons and a daughter-in-law, as well as a grandson. They have lived in Eden Prairie since 1984. "I hope the many words I have typed over the years have helped people understand the world around them."
Opponents of the proposed Noble Hill housing development near Eden Prairie’s Fredrick-Miller Spring have filed a lawsuit against the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District, alleging that the district’s Aug. 12 approval of permits for the project ignored warnings that erosion and water pollution might result. In a prepared statement, the Spring Valley Friends group that has formed to oppose the 50-lot project said the watershed district should have given more weight to concerns by University of Minnesota civil engineer professor Otto Strack about whether the plan’s water infiltration and retention ponds – designed to hold runoff and prevent pollution…
Do you see them? Eden Prairie residents who might be other than white, who eat foods different than yours, who celebrate different cultures, but who contribute to our Eden Prairie schools and community: Do you really see them? Artist Cadex Herrera wants them seen, wants their stories known, wants their contributions recognized and acknowledged. And, so he used those underlying themes to create his First Person Plural (We) art installation at Purgatory Creek Park: seven huge portraits of Eden Prairie residents that you see along Technology Drive as you drive west to east. All of those who are portrayed on…
Renovation of the clubhouse at Olympic Hills Golf Course in southeastern Eden Prairie is among the agenda items for the Eden Prairie City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7. The two-phased construction work includes two additions and changes to the exterior façade of the clubhouse, including the outdoor terrace, as well as a small amount of indoor remodeling. Also on the council’s agenda Sept. 7 is final approval of a new Inclusionary Housing Ordinance that helps ensure that future multi-family housing projects each include a small number of units that are considered affordable. The city has pursued this…
A new collaboration between the city, schools and businesses is being launched to make Eden Prairie more entrepreneur-friendly. It’s expected to eventually include space at Eden Prairie High School (EPHS), set aside for business-minded community members and teenagers to connect, learn, dream and create. EPHS Principal Robb Virgin likes to call this new ecosystem the “Innovation Sandbox … a physical space, but also a way in which the thinkers in our community can partner with each other and partner with the school.” “It has a lot of potential for us as a community and us as a high school,” he…
Pizza delivery boxes, used napkins and paper towels, and empty egg cartons? Yes! Fast-food wrappers and cleaning or baby wipes? No! These are just a few of the many rules to know if you’re among the Eden Prairie households that plan to participate in curbside organics recycling when it’s offered by local garbage haulers Nov. 1 or earlier. Hennepin County’s Residential Organics Recycling Guide (PDF) In fact, how to keep unacceptable materials from the organics-recycling stream has been one of the key obstacles to getting this new program underway, even though Hennepin County has been working to implement it for…
Plans for a new Burger King at Highway 5 and County Road 4 cleared a final hurdle Tuesday, Aug. 17, by gaining unanimous Eden Prairie City Council approval. The new restaurant will replace a long-closed Burger King and will be built by Chicago-based Cave Enterprises Operating LLC. Cave Enterprises has purchased several Twin Cities-area Burger King restaurants that were closed or in bankruptcy, including the building on Highway 5. Still closed and another likely candidate for future redevelopment is the Burger King building along Flying Cloud Drive, southwest of Eden Prairie Shopping Center. The building that will be constructed at…
An Asian-themed mix of grocery, restaurant, retail, and office uses that is expected to be a regional attraction received approvals from the Eden Prairie City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 17. Now called “Asia Mall,” it would occupy the former Gander Mountain building at 12160 Technology Drive, near Costco. The concept is similar to the food halls that are springing up across the country: a sprawling market that showcases numerous vendors and shops, most with a food theme. The local plan would be anchored by nearly 32,000 square feet of grocery space, but would also include full-service restaurants, small-scale retail, a…
A plan to build a service station and auto-repair shop in the southeastern corner of Eden Prairie ran into familiar opposition Tuesday, Aug. 17. The Eden Prairie City Council said the proposed 16-pump Holiday service station and 10-bay Auto Care World auto-repair business were too intense for a four-acre site that’s bordered on two sides by homes. Perhaps anticipating a legal challenge, they instructed their city attorney to prepare a formal “findings for denial” that the council could adopt at its next meeting. All five council members said they feel the plan falls short of expectations for a neighborhood commercial…
Among the development projects the Eden Prairie City Council will consider at its Tuesday, Aug. 17 meeting is a plan for a Holiday gas station, car wash, and convenience store and a 10-bay Auto Care World auto repair business next door, all on an undeveloped, four-acre site at the intersection of Pioneer Trail/County Road 1 and Hennepin Town Road in southeastern Eden Prairie. It’s a project the Eden Prairie Planning Commission turned down on an 8-0 vote June 14 in the face of significant neighborhood opposition. Also on Tuesday’s city council agenda are: Asian Plaza, an Asian-themed mix of grocery,…