Broulim’s to pause development of proposed Victor store

VICTOR, Idaho (KIFI) - Broulim's Fresh Foods has announced a temporary pause in the development of its proposed Victor store location.

Development of the 20,000-square-foot grocery store, which was approved last year by the City of Victor, has been subject to delay due to a lawsuit challenging the decision by Victor City Council to rezone the property Broulim's had purchased to build the grocery store.

On March 4, 2022, District Judge Steven Boyce ruled the city had not violated due process by considering both the 2015 and 2021 comprehensive plans in reaching its decision to rezone the property. However, the Judge found the city council should have required a traffic study before approving a rezone of the property.

As a result, the Judge ordered the decision to rezone the property to be vacated pending a new public hearing with the traffic study in hand.

At the end of that hearing, the Judge ruled the city could either approve the rezone or not.

“Per Judge Boyce’s ruling, we have been working on completing a traffic study to satisfy the Judge's decision,” President of Broulim's Fresh Foods Robert Broulim said. “While our commitment to having a grocery store in Victor has never been stronger, with rising interest rates, labor shortages, higher material costs, and the limitation in the size and design of the store we can build in Victor, we have decided now may not be the best time to build a new store in Victor. We have informed the City we are going to pause any further development of our Victor store for the time being.”

Victor Mayor Will Frohlich expressed disappointment with Broulim's decision but said, “I completely understand the headwinds that businesses face right now and respect Broulim's decision to pause development of a new store in our community until economic conditions improve.”

The Mayor further added, “The City remains committed to working with Broulim's when the time is right to bring this matter back before the City Council.”

Broulim’s currently has 10 store locations in Rigby, Rexburg, Montpelier, Driggs, St. Anthony, Soda Springs, Shelley, Afton, Alpine, and Sandcreek.