The building that housed the south metro’s last remaining Kowalski’s grocery store, which closed earlier this year, is poised to become a place of worship despite concerns from some Eagan residents.

River Valley Church intends to move its operations to 1646 Diffley Road, where it will provide worship services, Sunday School programs and weekly Bible studies after a conditional use permit was approved by the Eagan City Council earlier this month.

The nearly 39,000-square-foot building is to be owned and managed by commercial real estate firm Hempel Real Estate, with River Valley Church acting as the tenant.

According to the proposal, the building will have a maximum occupancy of 400 people and will include a 1,000-square-foot café to be open to the public and a 6,000-square-foot commissary kitchen that will be used to prepare food “for off-site distribution primarily to local schools and operated by the same restaurateur as the café.”

The area, located at the corner of Diffley Road and Johnny Cake Ridge Road, is zoned for “neighborhood business” and includes a gas station, drug store, gym, nail salon and banks.

Community concerns

Prior to the approval, Eagan residents wrote to city council members with concerns that ranged from traffic and noise pollution to objections over a religious institution where they would prefer additional retail.

A petition organized by nearby residents said, “We believe that maintaining the former Kowalski’s storefront as a retail space aligns with the best interests of our community and ensures the continued economic growth and cultural richness of our neighborhood.” The petition included over 140 signatures.

Some residents who wrote in emphasized the potential strain on traffic and how it could affect other businesses in the area.

“This proposal will lead to potentially 400 people attempting to enter and exit this location all at the same time and will create unsafe traffic conditions on Diffley Road and major congestion on Johnny Cake Ridge Road,” wrote Margaret Jacot. “This will also prevent people from patronizing the other businesses at this site.”

Other community members wrote in with concerns about River Valley Church, which is a part of the Assemblies of God denomination, due to their beliefs.

“My family and our neighbors appreciate the quiet and inclusive community we have created and do not want outside organizations known for their non-inclusive opinions and policies,” wrote Beth Bishop.

“Churches can definitely be a positive part of a neighborhood. But this church is not shy about their very negative stance on LGBTQ+ people,” wrote Eagan resident Rebecca Ruddy.

According to the position papers of the Assemblies of God, “Sexual acts outside of marriage are prohibited as sinful.” The statement goes on to define sexual acts outside of marriage to include “adultery, fornication, incest, bestiality, pornography, prostitution, voyeurism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, sodomy, polygamy, polyamory or same-sex sexual acts.”

River Valley Church did not respond to a request for comment.

Founded in 1995, River Valley has 11 church locations near the Twin Cities including Apple Valley, Lakeville, Minneapolis and Woodbury.

“I think a lot of people would prefer to see a grocery store or restaurant,” said Councilmember Gary Hansen at the July 2 city council meeting.

“Philosophically, I have some concerns,” Hansen said. “To give voice to the concerns that have been expressed, I am going to vote no.”

The other four members of the council voted in favor of the permit.

Shifting addresses

With approval for the new location, the church plans to leave its current Eagan building at 875 Blue Gentian Road, where it was operating under an Interim Use Permit which expired this month, according to the proposal.

The Kowalski’s store, which opened in 2008, closed Feb. 24 of this year “after seeing disappointing sales after numerous grocery stores opened in Eagan,” according to a letter submitted to Eagan city officials from Hempel Real Estate.

“We do not take this decision lightly,” said Kris Kowalski-Christiansen, CEO of the grocer, about the closure in February. “We have done business in and partnered with the wonderful Eagan community for 16 years.”

Now the nearest Kowalski’s for south metro residents is 11 miles away on St. Paul’s Grand Avenue.

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A St. Paul man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for fatally shooting a man in the head outside a University Avenue bar in 2019.

Devante Lattrele Jennings, 29, pleaded guilty in May to the murder of 33-year-old Michael Gray of St. Paul at the now-closed Johnny Baby’s at University Avenue and Chatsworth Street. Jennings was charged in April 2023 while incarcerated on an earlier firearms conviction out of Ramsey County.

Devante Lattrele Jennings (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Corrections)

According to the criminal complaint, St. Paul police responded to reports of a shooting outside Johnny Baby’s about 2 a.m. on May 4, 2019, where they found Gray lying in the parking lot with gunshot wounds to the back of his head and an arm. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police recovered four bullet casings, all fired from the same gun.

A witness told police that Gray had been by a silver sedan that was occupied by three people. The witness said it looked like Gray was trying to get into the rear passenger side seat when the front passenger leaned out of the car and shot him.

Investigators learned a Kia sedan with Wisconsin license plates was at the scene when the shooting occurred and traced it to a man identified in court documents by the initials TC, who knew the car’s owner. They also found a cigarette butt in the vehicle with Jennings’ DNA on it.

Jennings initially told investigators in July 2019 he had bought drugs from TC months earlier and smoked a cigarette in the front seat, but denied being at Johnny Baby’s at the time of the shooting.

Surveillance footage

Surveillance footage outside Johnny Baby’s captured the shooting.

Jennings, TC and a third man arrived at the bar in the Kia sedan about 1:30 a.m. The third man, identified in court documents as WB, got out of the car and walked into the bar, bumping into Gray on his way inside, the complaint says.

A family photo of Michael Gray. (Mara H. Gottfried / Pioneer Press)

WB walked back out to the parking lot about 1:42 a.m. and remained there with Jennings and TC until about 2 a.m., when the three men got back into the Kia. Gray approached the Kia and appeared to speak with Jennings, who was in the front passenger seat, before backing away and walking toward the back of the car. Jennings then leaned out of the front passenger window and shot Gray.

WB was killed in September 2019 near the St. Paul Saloon by friends of Gray, the complaint says.

In March 2023, while interviewing Jennings at the Moose Lake prison, investigators showed him still frames from Johnny Baby’s surveillance footage. They told Jennings they had identified him as the person in the footage.

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“Jennings looked at the photos and sighed,” the complaint says. “Jennings did not deny he was the person in the photos. Jennings then said he would wait to talk to the investigator at the Ramsey County jail with an attorney.”

Jennings, whose first name is also spelled Devonte in court records, was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a second-degree intentional murder charge at sentencing.

Johnny Baby’s, which had been the site of several shootings in recent years, closed in March 2020 and was renovated into a retail establishment.

The St. Paul City Council will revisit the proposed rezoning of a 1.5-mile swathe of Grand Avenue on Aug. 7, following three significant amendments adopted Wednesday at the urging of Council Member Rebecca Noecker.

Following two years of study, a proposal that recently won the support of the St. Paul Planning Commission would allow new development within the East Grand Avenue Overlay District up to 40 feet in height, or larger with tiered step-backs after 40 vertical feet. The refashioned overlay district would eliminate a current 30-foot height limit, among other changes intended to invite more real estate development in the corridor.

The three amendments introduced Wednesday, each of them authored by Noecker, who represents downtown, alter the step-back requirements in the rear so they match the front façade at 40 feet, instead of requiring them at 30 vertical feet.

Another amendment limits the maximum step-back to 10 feet in total, instead of requiring a one-to-one step-back that would create what Noecker described as a “wedding cake,” or tiered approach, every 10 vertical feet.

Her third amendment eliminates an exemption within 15 feet of building corners, which would have otherwise have allowed the creation of “Rapunzel towers,” she said.

Noecker said her goal was to “allow development to happen on Grand that we desperately need … but also to preserve what makes the avenue feel special” without forcing developers and city staff to variance requests that are “costly, time consuming and create a lot of headache and work.”

Council President Mitra Jalali agreed. “I’m supportive of this amendment and I think it builds on (the intent) … to streamline the process to have development come to Grand Avenue,” she said.

Noecker expects the council to host a final vote on the rezoned overlay district on Aug. 7. The amendments were adopted 6-0, with Council Member Nelsie Yang absent on maternity leave.

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