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Rezoning request returned to committee
Senior Reporter Crow Wing County commissioners Tuesday sent a rezoning request in Lake Edward Township back to planning and zoning.
John and Mary Sours, of Pekin, Ill., requested a rezoning for their property, which lies south of County Road 137 and northeast of Gladstone Lake Road.
The request would change the land's zoning from agriculture to shoreland residential 2, involving about 42 acres. The property access is from the minimally maintained Gladstone Lake Road and the potential for 22 lots on the parcels was a concern to the Lake Edward Township Board. Neither planning and zoning staff nor the Planning Commission, which recommended approval for the request, had an onsite visit to the property for the application.
Commissioner Rosemary Franzen's motion to deny the request as not being compatible with the area nearly failed for lack of a second until Board Chairwoman Rachel Reabe Nystrom passed the gavel in order to second it and keep the motion alive for a vote. Commissioners Dewey Tautges, Doug Houge and Paul Thiede voted against.
Franzen said most of the surrounding zoning was agricultural with larger lots. She noted opposition from the Lake Edward Township Board while the county staff report incorrectly said the township board supported the plan, opposition from surrounding property owners, a lack of a site visit and concerns about the ability of the access road to handle greater residential density. The negatives far outweighed the positives, Franzen said.
Lake Edward Township Supervisor Leonard Wagner said he looked at the property and the development will have a negative effect on people living in the area because of traffic and noise. Wagner said the smaller lot sizes aren't compatible with surrounding area of larger acreage.
"I predict in the next 20 years, people are going to come up here from Minneapolis and look at the same thing that they just left," Wagner said.
Commissioner Dewey Tautges said the property is privately owned and doesn't belong to the township.
In a letter to the board, the Sours said they have been caretakers of the land for 40 years and coming to the area since John Sour, 61, was 5 years old. The Sours want to keep their cabin on Lake Gladstone and sell their other property, and after buying out a brother's interest, they want to retire their property debt. By rezoning, the Sours said they hope to be able to sell the land at a more acceptable size and price.
Jean O'Reilly, Rogers, whose family has owned the property next to the Sours since 1954, said the Planning Commission passed the Sours' request on a 4-2 vote without an informed and thoughtful review.
"It was apparent that some members of the commissioner were very unfamiliar with details of the request but voted for it anyway," O'Reilly said. "We are not against development but this area is not appropriate for 2-acre lots."
Several other property owners expressed concerns to the board about the rezoning. Commissioner Doug Houge, who serves a board liaison to the Planning Commission, said the shoreland residential 2 zoning was supported because it was more restrictive, offering better environmental protection than the larger 2.5-acre zoning and offered a transition to agricultural, which may be 10 acres or more.
Randy Quail, Widseth Smith Nolting, spoke for the property owners and said the rezoning request provided a natural transition for an area that is going to be more heavily developed in the future.
Gladstone Lake Road resident Sue Berken said she was frustrated by a lack of research by planning and zoning for this issue. Berken said she hoped to count on the board to do the needed homework as residents are depending on the board to protect Gladstone Lake.
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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