|
Opponents voice disapproval of proposed zoning ordinance changes CASS COUNTY BOARD Cass County Correspondent WALKER - The majority of people who filled the Cass County Board meeting room Tuesday in Walker to comment on zoning ordinance changes voiced opposition to a proposal to require platting for all subdivisions of property into five or more lots.
Proposed changes would eliminate dividing by minor subdivision from five to nine lots. Currently, while those subdivisions must meet the same standards as a plat, they do not require planning commission review or a public hearing unless Environmental Services Director John Sumption or County Planner Paul Fairbanks request a planning commission hearing. Fees are lower.
Administrator Robert Yochum said the commissioners will have to decide whether Fairbanks and Sumption should continue to decide which subdivisions of five to nine lots the planning commission will hear or whether all should go to the planning commission.
The board voted to conduct a second reading on subdivision changes and other proposed changes to county zoning laws at 10 a.m. April 17 at the land department meeting room in Backus. Copies of the ordinances are available from the ESD office at the courthouse in Walker and on the county Web site, www.co.cass.mn.us.
Those ordinances address subdivision and platting, individual sewage treatment system, land use zoning and a new ordinance to consolidate definitions for all ordinances.
Walker developer Skip Duchesneau reminded the board the state allows splitting land into a maximum of nine lots simply by filing a certificate of survey. Duchesneau said he believed when he sat on a committee, which recommended minor subdivisions, that the committee was establishing a compromise stricter standard for Cass County.
"The minor subdivision system is better than the state system," he said. "It gave the county more control."
Fairbanks said the proposed elimination of minor subdivisions from the county ordinance is a response to several township planning commissions, whose members objected to the fact there are no public hearings and fewer people are notified of proposed minor subdivision plans.
Property owners within a half-mile of a plat receive notices for planning commission public hearings. Only abutting property owners receive notice on proposed minor subdivisions.
Wabedo Township sent the county a letter from that town's planning commission and board of supervisors to support the proposed changes.
Mike Wetzel, planning commission member, said the planning commission supported eliminating minor subdivisions on a 4-5 vote, reflecting the fact there appear to be supporters on both sides of the issue, even on the planning commission.
Jim Nitchals, planning commission member, said he voted against removing minor subdivisions because he believes the change will add more costs for smaller developers.
John Zacher, Walker developer and a member of the committee that originally proposed minor subdivisions, questioned why the committee that originally developed the minor subdivision concept was not reactivated to review this proposed change.
"We worked hard to reach agreement on including minor subdivisions," he recalled.
Zacher objected to Cass County's high fee schedule. He said Cass charges 20 times the Hubbard County rate for platting and five times that of Crow Wing County.
"We're paying more and more for our land. We're allowed to make less and less use of it," said Jerry Fuhrer, a Pine River real estate agent.
Laurie Moe, a Walker agent with Cedar Point Realty, called Cass County's fees "astronomical."
Jim Lewis, Hackensack, objected to the frequency of zoning law changes. People don't get to see the impact changes make before new changes are proposed. Adding restrictions erode property values, he said.
"I don't think you're hearing from the rank and file," Lewis said.
Fairbanks told the board the planning commission has never rejected a plat since 1999. The commission may ask developers to make changes or cut the number of lots in a plat, but they all do get approved, he said.
|
Overcast, 61°
