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Minute of the Richland County Zoning Committee Meeting
December 7, 2009
Item # 1 The Zoning committee meeting was called to order by Chairman Richard Rasmussen at 9:00 am. Those present or who signed up to speak were Donald Olson, Dion Puzon, Cora Puzon, Richard McCollough, Richard Rasmussen, Bob Holets, Virginia Wiedenfeld, Carol Clausius, Marilyn Marshall, and Harriet Pedley with Cheryl Dull taking minutes.
Item #2 Motion by Holets, seconded by Clasius, to approve the publication and agenda. Motion carried.
Item #3 Moved by Chairman Rasmussen to amend the November meeting minutes to read as follows: Gordon stated that there is 41-42 acres of which his daughter and son in-law want to purchase 5.8 acres with buildings and a hay field. With that change Chairman Rasmussen declared them approved as presented.
Start of Public Hearing 9:03 am.
Item # 3a. The committee heard a petition from Richard and Diane McCollough to rezone 5.2 acres from Agriculture/Forestry to Agriculture/Residential in Section 36 of Buena Vista Township.
Discussion: Pedley stated that the parcel the McCollough’s are rezoning is part of the original acreage they purchased 15 years ago from Coleman. In 2003 the county rezoned about 4 acres to Residential-2. The McCollough’s did not want to rezone their entire parcel at that time for whatever reason. They were told at that time that when they sold the rezoned acreage and it was developed it would affect their remaining parcel. That parcel was rezoned and built on so that is why they are before the zoning committee asking for a rezoning for the balance of the parcel they originally owned. This petition was originally filed in July of this year but because of family reasons, they asked if they could put off the rezoning for a few months. With the family circumstances resolved and the farmland preservation changes going into effect they have decided to proceed now. Pedley stated it is on the County Board agenda to be acted upon because of the conversion fees going into affect on January 1st. If it is not approved today the County Board will not act on it at tomorrow’s session. The original request to rezone was to go to Commercial which was denied. No neighbors were heard from and McCollough stated he went to the town board where it was approved.
Motion by Holets, seconded by Wiedenfeld to approve the petition and pass it to the next county board session. Motion carried.
Item # 4 Motion by Marshall, seconded by Holets to bring the Puzon petition off the table from the November 2, 2009 meeting. Motion carried.
Discussion: Pedley stated she has spoken to several people including Steve Kohlstead from the UW Extension office and has done a lot of studying on the internet for information concerning the keeping of goats. Kohlstedt has informed Pedley the amount of manure created by 11 goats on this amount of acres is not significant. Pedley has also discovered that the manure production of 11 goats create 27.5 lbs of manure a day. Pedley also stated with the Puzon acreage they can have up to 45 goats. The Puzons stated they now have 10 goats. Chairman Rasmussen stated he has been contacted by a neighbor who wants to remain anonymous concerning the possibility of bringing in cows and horses now of which there are currently horses next door. Pedley stated the zoning ordinance does state how many animal units there can be. Marshall questioned if we can have control on what animals are placed there. Donald Olson, a neighbor, questioned if the well test results were based on manure? He has a sand point and has concerns. Pedley stated the tests show the level of coli which is a bacterium found in manure of all kinds. Olson also stated that the Puzons have a commercial business because the goats manure is used for fertilizing the garden and is sold. Pedley explained limited farming is a permitted use in Ag/R. Dion Puzon stated he had a sand point well and after investigating the possibility of having bad water with nitrates they took the initiative to drill a well. There are three lots on the west of the Puzons zoned residential and the land to the south is zoned Agriculture/Forestry and is mostly owned by the DNR. The Puzon petition was approved by the Buena Vista Town Board.
Motion by Wiedenfeld, seconded by Clausius to approve the petition and pass it to tomorrow’s county board session. Motion carried with one no vote from Rasmussen.
Item # 5 The committee heard a rezoning request for Francis Huebsch to rezone 2 lots, one being 8.04 acres and the other 6.49 acres from Agriculture to Residential/Agriculture in Section 18 of Ithaca Township.
Discussion: Wiedenfeld stated she will abstain from voting because she is the Ithaca Township zoning administrator. Wiedenfeld presented the Francis Huebsch petition. Huebsch is selling land to beat the conversion fees and get ready to build next spring. It has gone before the Ithaca Zoning Committee and Township Board where it was approved.
Motion by Holets, seconded by Marshall to approve the petition and pass it to the next County Board. Motion carried.
Item # 6 Pedley reported that the Orion and Eagle meeting had a few people attend the meeting where she discussed the new Chapter 91 and its implications. Willow and Henrietta has had the best turn out with 4-5 people attending that were not on the town board. There was a meeting held at the Court House for Bloom, Sylvan, Rockbridge, Ithaca, and Richwood but Richwood did not attend because Pedley has gone to their township early on. Generally speaking Pedley thought everyone understood it but they were quite surprised about it. Some town officials already knew about it because of previous meetings held through the towns association. The general opinion from Marshall Township was they thought it was infringing on landowner rights to develop and that local control was being eliminated because of the Conditional Use Permit. Pedley stated it could be put into the ordinance that the Conditional Use Permit must go to the townships for review and approval if the county so wishes. Rezones average 8/10ths of 1% with Buena Vista having the most at 744 acres which figures to be about 3%. Harriet presented graphs made showing agricultural land for each township. Holets felt the County Board should see these numbers. Pedley asked the committee for their thoughts on where they want to go with the zoning ordinance; should they do nothing, do minimal changes or redo it completely. Pedley stated a couple townships recommended to wait a couple of years to see what other counties do. There is a meeting scheduled at Pippin Hall at the Campus on January 16, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. and Pedley will be speaking on the morning show on December 29, 2009 to discuss the changes and get some information to the general public. Pedley asked each of the members how they feel about the minimum lot size for the Agriculture and Forestry zoning district. Clasius stated she think 10 acres and that the county should wait awhile before we change anything; Holets is unsure of acreage but likes the percentage on land conversion with the conditional use permit; Wiedenfeld felt 10 acres minimum would be best or at least a lower acreage such as 10, 15, or 20; Marshall is undecided about acreage but feels conversion fees would discourage land splitting; Rasmussen is very undecided about the whole thing but is opposed to the conditional use permit idea. Chairman Rasmussen stated if there is no definite decision today the County will have to go with the conversion fee as of January 1st and get a consensus from the public meeting.
Item # 7 Not acted on.
Item # 8 UDC contract – Mike Rueter is willing to keep everything the same as last year. Motion by Holets seconded by Clausius to approve the contract again. Motion carried.
Item # 9 Compuware software contract if for an access database conversion to SQL to help with our database size and paper storage. The Zoning office has worked with 2 other contractors who cannot fulfill the needs of the office and has now found this company that comes highly recommended by other counties. $6000 of the funding will come from the 911 grant and $6000 will come from land records grant.
Motion by Wiedenfeld, seconded by Clasius to approve the software contract and send it to the next county board session for approval. Motion carried.
Item # 10 Violations – Pedley reported that Keith Herbeck has horses on a lot that is presently zoned Commercial. He owns this property with his siblings. Pedley has written Mr. Herbeck about the violation and will keep the committee informed as to the progress.
Item # 11 No report
Item # 12 Next meeting is set for Monday, January 4th at 9:00 am. Motion to adjourn by Holets, seconded by Clasius. Motion carried.