The Sherburne County Board of Commissioners met last Thursday and tackled several issues that have been drawing considerable attention from residents in the past few months, including changes to the Board of Adjustment and also parking standards for platted subdivisions. After considerable discussion, both issues were referred back to the Planning Commission (PC) for further consideration.

Public Participation

Several residents addressed the board during its open forum, speaking on both sides of the parking standards issue, in addition to calls for the county to adopt a 2A sanctuary resolution.

A handful of residents spoke against the proposed adoption of parking standards to deal with the issue of abandoned and junk vehicles, suggesting that it was government overreach and would bring with it several unintended consequences.  Their opinions included that it would restrict large families from being able to park all of their serviceable vehicles, as well as charges that the county is not enforcing the ordinances that it currently has on the books.

There were also several speakers who urged the commissioners to support the proposed changes so that county staff would have the tools needed to address junkyards and blighted properties.  Their charges included that the junk vehicles are bad for the environment because of leakage of fluids and rodent infestations, while the accumulation of junk also negatively affects neighboring  property values.  For those supporting the ordinance revisions, the consensus was that the proposed changes are a result of an arduous task that balances the rights of homeowners as well as those of their neighbors.

Parking Standards

Planning and Zoning Administrator Nancy Riddle presented the proposed parking standards ordinance changes to the commission for consideration.

Basically, the standards would define parking surfaces and square footages (1% of the lot size) that would be allowable for storing motor vehicles (which could include RV’s, motorboats, etc.).

Riddle outlined the discussion that was held by the PC, as well as the changes that have been made to certain language items since the original draft version.  She also clarified that the proposal would only cover platted subdivisions and not property that was subdivided by metes and bounds descriptions.

Based on some feedback from Planning Commission members since their last meeting, staff had also recommended several changes to the ordinance.

After a brief discussion, the board adopted the definitions and rules portion of the proposal by a 3-1 vote with Commissioner Lisa Fobbe voting against (Barbara Burandt was absent from the meeting).

When looking at the parking standards themselves, Commissioner Tim Dolan asked Riddle to speak about the enforceability of the rules, while Chair Raeanne Danielowski noted how she hoped the townships themselves could play a bigger role in the process of mitigating disputes between neighbors.

Dolan, citing a concern of unintended consequences of the proposed changes, motioned to send the matter back to the PC for review. His motion died for lack of a second.

Commissioner Felix Schmiesing noted that he had come to the meeting prepared to follow the recommendations of the PC, but said that he could understand the need for that entire group to review the staff changes that had been recommended since they last met. 

Fobbe said she also could support that referral back to the PC, as long as there was more communication for the townships as to what was being proposed, noting that some townships do not have supervisors appointed to the PC.

A new motion was made and adopted unanimously to refer the matter back  to the PC for review of the staff recommended changes and an additional public hearing.  

BOA

Next on the agenda was the consideration of the changes to the Board of Adjustment, as the PC had recommended removing three sections from the proposed ordinance.

The commissioners again had discussion about the changes, as well as the intent of the PC members regarding the motion they adopted at the last meeting striking those three language areas.

Dolan mentioned that the three sections referred to contain some statutorily required language and therefore he asked the board to consider allowing staff the chance to craft a “clean version” of the proposed changes that the PC could weigh in on at their next meeting.

Danielowski wanted to be sure that the proposed language would also merit consideration and scrutiny from legal counsel, while Schmiesing felt it could be a chance to get everyone on the same page again moving forward and there was no reason to rush the decision.  With that, the board agreed to send the issue back to the PC for consideration of final language revisions.

In Other Business, the Commissioners:

• Approved a road swap with Big Lake Twp., whereas County Road 79 will now be a township road and 209th Ave. will be taken over by the county;

• Heard from Administrator Bruce Messelt about the pending retirement of Nancy Riddle;

• Listened to an ARPA update from Dan Weber and asked that he keep the townships updated about the more stringent requirements of ARPA versus the previous CARES Act;

• Approved a motion rescinding the county’s local public health emergency declaration.