The Fairmont Planning Commission meeting drew a sizable crowd Tuesday evening as residents showed up to voice their thoughts during a public hearing.

FAIRMONT– There was standing room only in the Fairmont City Hall Council Chambers ahead of the Fairmont Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday evening. Nearly 100 people were present for a public hearing regarding the re-zoning request for 93 acres North of George Lake and West of Holland Street in Fairmont.

The proposal from Carlson Walters Group, LLC, is to re-zone the parcel from its current designation R-1 Single Family Residential, to B-1 Neighborhood Business. The property owner plans to develop a campground on the land, with the potential future expansion of residential housing and a restaurant.

Peter Bode, Planner and Zoning Official, said that staff had prepared a memo for the board outlining the request’s relationship to the Comprehensive Plan. The 2040 Comprehensive Plan’s guidance of Mixed Use Neighborhood format generally includes small-format neighborhood commercial uses mixed with residential and institutional uses.

Staff did not recommend re-zoning the area.

Brandon Edmundson, a local attorney who represents the Carlson Walters Group, LLC, said that the concept for the project has been going on for awhile but that contrary to information that may be circulating on social media, there is no final site plan.

He said that while the site is currently a farm, it’s been purchased with the intention of developing it in hopes of helping to grow the city.

The board then heard from several members of the public, many of whom are residents in the area and have lived there for decades.

The top remarks made by those present included concerns for noise and increased traffic, with an emphasis on how narrow and congested the street already tends to be. It was also pointed out that there are no sidewalks and that many residents in the area walk on the street, which could become more dangerous.

One resident commented on the money those who live on Holland Street spent on road repairs in the last year and asked who would be paying for infrastructure.

A few residents said they weren’t opposed to the idea of re-zoning the land and would even like to see a campground, but agreed that another access point would be needed. The re-zoning application includes a drawing with potential access shown from Lucia Avenue and Anna Street from the east. Currently land owned by the applicant at these connections is not wide enough to accommodate a public right-of-way.

Following about an hour of public comment, that portion of the meeting was closed. Commissioner Jon Omvig shared that in addition to those who spoke, the board had received 15 written comments in the form of letters. The board then discussed how it would like to proceed.

Commissioner Tom Mesich asked how a campground fits in under B-1. Bode said that campgrounds are not an implicit permitted use of B-1, but the city code allows for planned unit developments, which would essentially function as a conditional use permit. He said it’s under the PUD that a campground could be allowed.

Commissioner Ron Davison said he is always hesitant to re-zone anything to B-1 because once it’s done, there’s the possibility that anything can be built in the area. The possibility of only re-zoning a portion of the site was discussed. Bode said it’s a possibility but would require its own public hearing.

“I’m torn here. The zoning ordinance as currently written is not a great fit for all of the land uses as designated in the comprehensive plan. They don’t mesh well per-say,” Omvig said

He said that several years ago they spent a considerable amount of time classifying the area as a “mixed use neighborhood,” which is a mix of residential, office, retail and restaurants. Some permitted uses under B-1 include barbershops, government buildings, libraries, churches, municipal swimming pools and single-family residential houses.

“From a business district, that’s a pretty tight list. Denying this, we need to say that that zoning district is not compatible with what the comprehensive plan says,” Omvig said.

Bode confirmed that mixed use neighborhoods makes no mention of campgrounds.

Davison said he’d like to see a campground but would like to see more of a detailed site plan in another proposal. The commissioners discussed the possibility of a re-zoning request with a planned development coming back to the Planning Commission in the future.Commissioner Rin Porter made a motion to deny the application to re-zone the property to B-1 as the B-1 district is too broad for the area and that the B-1 district doesn’t ensure land development in accordance with the comprehensive plan.

In a roll call vote, the motion passed 4-0.