By Leah Shaffer

During Tuesday’s council meeting, the Eden Prairie City Council approved a three-year lease with a Dunn Bros. franchise owner to operate out of the Smith-Douglas-More house.

The owner and current lessee's original proposal was originally rejected back in August. That proposal asked to continue leasing the Smith-Douglas-More house the same terms that are in effect this year, which includes about $31,000 rent. Under the new lease agreement, the franchisee Ann Schuster, will pay about $34,000 a year along with outside maintenance costs.

 A French restaurant, the only other proposal to come before the Council, would have brought $5,000 less a year in net rent and would have required a $100,000 loan from the city.

Schuster’s proposal is superior in its terms to the one provided in August, noted Mayor Phil Young.

“But even more important than that is the fact that, I think the council did what it should have done a year ago.”

He said rather than just saying yes, “we went to the market and we tested it and we opened it up for others to compete for that space.”

Those in attendance at the Tuesday evening Council meeting, immediately broke into applause after the Council accepted the lease agreement. The possibility that the Dunn Bros. business would not be housed in the Smith-Douglas-More house brought out a passionate response in the community during the last few months.

City Council member Sherry Butcher noted that she has received hundreds of e-mails on the issue.

“I wish the process hadn’t happened quite the way that it did,” she said. “I think that there was some divisiveness in the community that I didn’t think spoke well about our process that we used-- but it was what it was.”

Butcher said supporting the Dunn Bros. offer was not just a financial decision. The coffee shop offers much more than just a business, she added.

“It is truly a community center in so many ways.”

Corporate Dunn Bros first set up shop in the renovated historic home back in 2002. Ownership shifted to franchise owner Ann Schuster in 2006. Last year, citing financial pressures, Schuster negotiated a reduction in rent from $67,000 to $31,000, and sublet the upstairs office space to a tutoring service. That tutoring service, according to the staff report, has not renewed its sub-lease for next year and Schuster is looking for a new tenant.

In August, Schuster asked for a one-year renewal under last year’s terms. But a majority of the Council opted to see what other options could come up.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Council member Brad Aho, noted he has “received a lot of input from a lot of residents on this.”

He said he would echo the Mayor’s comments in that the Dunn Bros. proposal is superior, adding “Not only from a monetary standpoint but also from a community standpoint.”

Council member Kathy Nelson noted that Dunn. Bros. does a wonderful job with one of Eden Prairie's historic homes.

“And I’d also encourage all Eden Prairie residents to take an opportunity to go buy a cup of coffee from them on occasion and say thank you.”