Wednesday night, the Santiago Twp. Board of Supervisors discussed the pros and cons of adopting their own zoning ordinance.
Supervisor Stuart Nelson explained the issue had arisen due to a conflict with property that Sherburne Co. deemed unsuitable for dividing due to the county’s zoning standards.
Craig Wensmann informed the board adopting their own zoning ordinance would allow them to use their own zoning requirements, which is what Big Lake Twp. has done. He explained doing so has given the township more flexibility.
Supervisor Jeff Pappenfus asked what doing so themselves would cost the township. Attorney Peter Tiede, who attended the meeting at Wensmann’s request, said the majority of the cost would be drafting documents.
He recommended the township first have an exploratory discussion with the county to see if they would be willing to work with them before they spend any money. If so, along with publishing and resolutions, he estimated the cost to be two to three thousand dollars.
The county would run the ordinance which would mean less hassle for the township. Once in place, Tiede indicated it shouldn’t cost the township anything to run as applicants would pay all the fees and other costs, however, they would want to keep up with county ordinance changes.
Wensmann read aloud the section of the county subdivision ordinance that speaks of allowing for alternative standards to the board, and explained their ordinance would need to be consistent with or more restrictive than the county’s.
“If we left things as is the county zoning is the final authority and we can’t intercede,” said Stuart. “If we enact our own ordinance the zoning is still run by the county but we’re giving people more options.”
A motion passed to table the issue until the board received more information from the county level.
Other Business
The board reviewed last year’s budget to see if there was anything that should be changed; the consensus was everything looked good and could stay as is. If approved at the annual meeting in March, this will be the fifth year the township has not had a budget increase.
Supervisor Dave Jehoich informed the board he had turned in a list of road projects to present at the annual meeting.
Clean Up Day has been scheduled for Sat., April 28.
The sheriff reported 63 calls for service in January, most of which were traffic but did include two DUIs. The perpetrators who damaged mailboxes and signs in the township have been apprehended.
