The popularity of large-scale discount retail that emerged in the 1990’s led to another instance of community division over land use and commercial development in Northfield.  According to Belling the Box: Planning for Large Scale Retail Stores,

“The meteoric rise of large-scale retail stores like Walmart and Target has been one of the headline planning stories of the 1990’s.  Commonly called big-box retailers, these enterprises typically occupy more than 50,000 square feet and derive their profits from high sales volumes.  They seem to be everywhere; no place, be it a rural town or urban neighborhood, can ignore the profound planning impacts big box retail stores can have on the character of a community” (Duerksen and Blanchard 1998).

The May 1998 proposal by Target to develop outside of Northfield’s central business district (CBD) brought many of these nationally-occurring debates to the Northfield community.  At that time, land use in Northfield was regulated by the 1988 Comprehensive Plan, which established policies regarding the central business district.  It stated:

“Outside the CBD, restrict highway commercial development to Highway 3 and to those uses that preserve the CBD as the retail service and business center.  Limit such highway commercial development… [and] exclude buildings which form a shopping center, department store, or discount department store” (Rhees 1998).

In addition to the 1988 Comprehensive Plan, the 1990 Downtown Plan also highlighted the importance of maintaining downtown Northfield as the commercial center of the city.  However, pressure to expand retail in the late 90’s forced Northfield to reconsider development policy.

The Target proposal called for:
-a 30-acre site for a Target store and other retail uses on the east side of Hwy. 3
-a development of 235,000 total square feet
-a Target store of 90,000 square feet
-an additional 20,000 square feet for restaurants and specialty stores
The proposed development site was previously used for agriculture (Rhees 1).

The series of events that followed transformed the Target proposal into an extended, and sometimes hostile, community discussion of the identity and future of Northfield.  The issue came to dominate headlines and opinion pages of the Northfield News, which became a forum for community discussion of commercial development like it never had before.  The Northfield News covered the initial proposal phases, and subsequent requests for a Planned Development Zone (PDZ), Comprehensive Plan amendments, and an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW).  Community members became engrossed in the issue by beginning to form interest groups such as “Citizens for Target” and attending public hearings.  Many were enthusiastic to have the opportunity to express their views by voting in the March 2, 1999 referendum that ultimately secured the Target development by only 94 votes.