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Lake Co. Zoning Referral Petitions Due January 12

Last updated on 2013.05.24

In the excitement of the holidays, I forgot to mention that I had a good conversation right before Christmas with Winfred neighbors Charlie Scholl and Neil McIntyre. Scholl reminded me that he and several fellow citizens are still circulating petitions to refer Lake County's hefty zoning ordinance revisions to a public vote. State law gives petitioners 20 days from publication of an ordinance to submit to referral. Given the zoning changes got first official publication on December 23, petitioneers have until January 12 to submit the necessary 457 signatures.

Scholl didn't have a complete signature count when I spoke with him, but he felt optimistic about getting more than enough signatures. If you'd like to see a public vote on the zoning changes, you can drop by Sturdevant's Auto Parts on South Van Eps in Madison.

5 Comments

  1. Nick Abraham 2011.01.02

    Vern Bamsey was also circulating the petition. He had several pages complete, I would expect them to make it easily.

  2. caheidelberger Post author | 2011.01.02

    "several pages"... at 30 names per sheet, several means... couple hundred? Good hustle, Vern!

  3. nonnie 2011.01.02

    Publishing the thing on December 23 is a good political ploy, but also reveals that the promoters don't really want the public to have much time to consider this before it becomes law. A big red flag IMO.

    During the forum before the November election, at least one of the candidates said this new 170 pages of zoning ordinance was not much of anything new. If that is the case, then why do they feel that Lake County needs this? If there are a few specific problems, then can be addressed in considerably less than 170 pages. This needs to be referred to a vote and defeated as it is too intrusive on personal property rights. Enforce the laws already on the books.

    And if the county is strapped for money, where are they getting the money for another well-paid position to look for violators of this new ordinance? Are the county employees now doing the other various duties that this new employee is to assume over-worked and incapable do doing those duties themelves?

  4. caheidelberger Post author | 2011.01.03

    Half of the money for the new position is coming from the Lake Madison Development Association an from East Dakota Water Development District. After three years, the environmental enforcement officer will be responsible for coming up with that portion of her salary herself by obtaining federal grants. The employee will also be seeking grants for other projects, so ultimately, the position could be a net plus for county revenue.

    As for why we need the changes, and why do them all now, there are lots of definitions and rules that need updating and tightening to close legal loopholes and bring the code up to modern snuff. It seems to make sense to do a full revision all at once rather than piddling around for months or years with separate revisions.

    And "well-paid"? Once again, for the qualifications required, we're paying this person much less than comparable skills are worth on the free market. It's also a hard hybrid position, mixing building code enforcement (engineering/construction knowledge) with environmental issues (biology/envir-science knowledge). For what the county is asking this person to do, the position is not well paid.

  5. Rod Goeman 2011.01.03

    The County spent considerable time and effort to revise, not create, the zoning regulations that keep neighbors neighborly and orderly. They looked at other county regulations, even other states as they tweaked a few of the previous zoning regs that were loosey-goosey in interpretation. The County also held several meetings plus two public hearings in which only a handful of items were questioned and later revised to the benefit of the taxpayer/landowner. Protecting our water, air and guidance for future development is important if we are to have orderly growth in Lake County. I hope we don't have to spend extra taxpayer dollars for an election to vote on these improved regulations.

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