Letter to the editor: Don't rezone, move business instead

I am writing to express my concern about a request by Ken Maki to have land rezoned from residential to highway commercial in the Sunnyside area behind Sunnyside Auto and Gordy’s Hi-Hat and Warming House.

He wants to build a building large enough to house four dump trucks, according to Al Cottingham, the city zoning administrator.

I have been his longtime neighbor for several decades without any issues. However, he has had two dump trucks parked at his home in recent years, which have been particularly disruptive to my son’s young family.

They start the trucks around 4 a.m. most mornings. The loud, rumbling trucks cause my house to shake and wake everyone up, including my son’s 2-year-old child.

The trucks go back and forth to Maki’s home many times daily. They back into the driveway, which causes the trucks to make an obnoxiously loud beeping sound. Sometimes it lasts up to 10 minutes.

Instead of rezoning a residential area and potentially lowering neighboring residents’ quality of life and most likely their property values, why doesn’t Maki build his business at the Cloquet Business Park? The park is farther away from residents and less likely to cause issues for the neighborhood and property values.

The Cloquet Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing about the rezoning of the property at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10. Residents can voice their opinions either at the hearing or send a letter prior to the meeting addressed to the Community Development Department, 101 14th St., Cloquet. My family plans to attend the meeting and voice our objections and we hope to see other residents join us.

Angela Graff and Cole Wuollet,

Cloquet