The City of Victoria Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Council approve a preliminary plat, conditional use permits for gas pumps and an accessory car wash, rezoning from agricultural to C2 (Community Commercial) and a comprehensive plan amendment for a Kwik Trip site in the city’s South Growth area.

The recommendation followed a staff presentation and a public hearing in which city planning staff summarized the proposal and Kwik Trip representatives answered commissioners’ questions. City planner Bridal McCain said the applicant “appear[s] to be compliant with all of our general conditional use standards as well as our specific conditional use standards for gas pumps in our code.” Pat Rossi of Tradition Development said the team was “excited to get the first leg in or on our site.” Kwik Trip real estate manager Lisa Watson described the store as a generation‑3 convenience store and said the design includes an expanded grocery and seating area; Watson said the store is about 9,100 square feet and that the company is evaluating EV chargers for some sites.

Why it matters: This would be the first commercial development in the South Growth area and is tied to larger corridor improvements on County Road 11 and County Road 10 that the county has scheduled for future years. Commissioners focused on traffic access, stormwater maintenance, water supply and buffering between the site and adjacent residential uses.

Key facts and staff findings
- Location and scale: The overall Victoria Ridge property is about 48 acres; the Kwik Trip project area under review is about 4.4 acres on the northeast corner of that parcel. Staff described the convenience store in the preliminary materials as 11,000 square feet (staff estimate) while the applicant described the store as a gen‑3 store of roughly 9,100 square feet. The site plan shows 10 fuel pumps, an accessory car wash, and 64 parking spaces.
- Access and traffic: The site would have two full access points (one on Ridgeview Boulevard and one on the connector called Road A that ties to County Road 11). A traffic study prepared for the project estimated about 4,350 daily trips generated by the Kwik Trip site alone and about 18,500 daily trips if all speculative commercial uses in the corridor were built out. The traffic study recommended a right‑turn lane into the site on Road A; staff also noted the developer will be required to construct left and right turn lanes on County Road 11 to serve the site in the interim before the county corridor median improvements are built.
- Water and utilities: Staff told commissioners that Well Number 6 is complete but that necessary permits remain outstanding; staff kept a condition tying final approvals to meeting water appropriation requirements. Stormwater basins shown for the site would be privately owned and maintained by the developer under a maintenance agreement.
- Landscaping, buffers and fire access: Staff said the project meets minimum open‑space and planting standards but noted one parking island lacks a terminal landscape tree. A 30‑foot buffer is shown between the commercial site and adjacent R3 residential to the north; staff warned that buffer reduction might be requested later to allow a fire‑department turnaround and that commissioners could impose conditions.
- Park dedication: Staff calculated a 5% park dedication requirement for the site, roughly a little over one‑fifth of an acre or about $23,000 (cash‑in‑lieu), based on current requirements.

Discussion and questions from commissioners
Commissioners pressed the applicant on car wash water usage, noise from car‑wash dryers, site orientation, truck turning radii and future EV charging. Lisa Watson said Kwik Trip has used reclaimed water systems in some locations but “typically do not” and that she could provide detailed water‑use figures later. On noise mitigation for the car wash dryers, the applicant said landscape berming and tree plantings should reduce perceived noise and that roadway traffic on County Road 11 would be a louder source than a single dryer. Applicant civil engineer Dave Nash explained grades and elevations drove the chosen site layout; he said the site slopes from east to west and the building sits several feet below County Road 11 elevations.

Formal action and next steps
A commissioner moved that the Planning Commission recommend City Council approval of the Kwik Trip preliminary plat, CUPs, rezoning and comprehensive plan amendment with staff conditions; a second was given and the motion carried. The Planning Commission’s action is a recommendation; the matter moves next to the City Council for final ordinance rezoning and final plat approvals. Staff noted that architectural, lighting and signage plans will return with the final plat and building material submittal.

Community input and review
Staff said notices were published in the Waconia Patriot and mailed to property owners within 350 feet; the city received one phone call with general questions and one comment asking the city to consider an alternative access location on County Road 11 to reduce impacts on properties on the Chaska side of the road. No members of the public spoke at the hearing in the chamber.