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| Breezy P&Z Denies Gravel PitBy Paul Boblett, Editor At the June 24, 2008 meeting of the Breezy Point Planning Commission, the Interim Use Permit (IUP) was denied for applicant Greg Scholz, dba Breezy Sand and Gravel. Scholz applied for the permit for his business, and a public hearing was held June 10, that meeting was recessed then continued on June 24. Scholz applied for a gravel extraction operation, which included crushing and washing the material on site. The location of the proposed operation is along the south side of Buschmann Road and east of Robinhood Lane in an area zoned Wooded Residential. The permit was under scrutiny because of the ordinance, which states that a gravel extraction operation is allowed under the ordinance in a Wooded Residential area, but washing and crushing is not. Scholz was asked at the June 10 meeting that if he knew that crushing and washing was not permitted in a wooded residential zone, would he still have applied, to which Scholz replied, “absolutely not”. Much discussion took place among the planning commission concerning the application and conditions that could be placed upon it, the amount of the bond - or letter of credit, and reclamation of the property. City Planner Jim Perry confirmed that any conditions placed upon the applicant would supercede the application. It was determined by the commission that the rule of law pertaining to their vote is the city’s zoning ordinance. The denial came on the commission’s third motion of the evening and after much discussion on the individual conditions, and also that Interim Use standards were met. The first two motions failed; the first for denial based on the information supplied by staff. The vote was 2-3 (voting no: Roggenbuck, Neer and Lillehie). Approximately one hour later was a failed motion for approval based on information supplied by staff, which contained amended items and additional conditions in the resolution. The motion failed by a vote of 2-3 (voting no: Smieja, Engfer, and Schmid). The third and final motion was made by Tom Engfer, seconded by Jerry Smieja to deny the the application for an extracted use operation in an area zoned wooded residential (voting no: Roggenbuck and Neer). “This thing never, ever, should have gotten to this point,” said Schmid. Engfer said, “In good conscience, I cannot vote for this.” In other business, the commission accepted Chuck Deutsch’s resigignation from the commission. In an email dated June 24, he thanked the city staff and mayor Weaver and former mayor Rach for appointment him to the commission. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northland Press | P.O. Box 145 | Outing, MN 56662 | (218) 692-5842 Email: news@northlandpress.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
