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FAIRMONT-- A public hearing on the request to rezone 800 E. Margaret Street in Fairmont to be entirely B3 General Business was held at the Fairmont City Council meeting on Monday. The request came from property owner, Dale Wedel, with the support of Martin County, which intends to build a public safety center on the land.
On Oct. 3, the Fairmont Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the rezoning request. However, on Monday, the city's Planner and Zoning Official, Peter Bode, said that the council did have the authority to deny the request if it could provide defensible findings.
During the public comment portion, several residents of the area in question spoke out against the project. The recurring remarks have been that residents do not want a jail near their house. One resident asked the council to deny the request so that it could revamp the 2024 Comprehensive Plan for the area.
"We would like this residential area to stay residential," said one resident.
Currently the 2040 Comprehensive Plan has that area slated to be rezoned B3 so that the entire parcel will be a single zoning designation.
However, the land owner also spoke up during the public comment portion and pointed out that the majority of the land is already zoned B3 and that only about 30 percent of the land needs to be rezoned, as per the request.
"I don't think that's asking too much just for a few acres... it's pretty straightforward," he said.
Once the public comment portion closed, Council Member Britney Kawecki made a lengthy motion to deny the request, in part because the rezoning is not consistent with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan and because B3 zoning for the parcel is not consistent with the adjacent R3 multi family zoning to the west and R1 zoning adjacent to the east. Council Member Wayne Hasek seconded it.
Council Member Jay Maynard said that while the concerns raised by nearby residents resonate with him, they were not something for the council to consider.
"The question before us is to rezone 30 percent of this parcel to match the other 70 percent of this parcel," Maynard said.
He pointed out that as Bode and MSA--which is helping with the city's rezoning project--said, split zoning parcels is considered bad practice.
Furthermore, Maynard said, "even if for some reason the county decides to not move ahead with the project on this parcel, then Mr. Wedel is still dealing with a parcel with two zoning designations on it."
He added that the county cannot be stopped or slowed down and said that all the county would need to do to proceed would be to slide the design north by 10 feet and then the council could not interfere or stop the project.
"We need to consider the question before us only and on that basis, I believe that we should approve this rezoning," Maynard said.
The motion to direct city staff to draft a resolution denying the request passed 4-1 with Maynard as the dissenting vote.
Kawecki then made another motion to direct the planning commission to consider amending the 2040 Comprehensive Plan to propose residential land use for the entire Wedel tract, which Council Member Michele Miller seconded. The motion again passed 4-1 with Maynard the sole dissenting vote.
Kawecki made a third motion to have the city council schedule a public hearing at its next regularly scheduled meeting to consider adoption of an interim ordinance for the purpose of protecting the planning process and welfare of the citizens.
She added that the interim ordinance may regulate, restrict or prohibit any use, development, or subdivision of the applicable to the parcel subject to the rezoning request for a period not to exceed one year from the date it's effective.
Fairmont's interim city administrator, Jeff O'Neil, said that it sounded like they were looking at placing a moratorium on it, which was within the council's authority to do.
"This stops it from moving 10 feet and moving forward with it," Kawecki said.
O'Neil agreed, saying that the land use of the entire site would need to be looked at, which would prevent any actual development on the land until the council was comfortable with the land use applied to the site.
The motion to place a moratorium on the development until a study of the land use is complete passed 4-1 with Maynard in opposition.
In other news, the council:
-- Proclaimed Nov. 9 as Community Education and Recreation day in Fairmont.
-- Heard from Representative Bjorn Olson, who was present to remind the council that it can reach out to him with any questions, concerns or requests.
-- Approved a conditional use permit for a retail tire store and tire installation service at 1760 N. State St.
-- Approved an airfield pavement maintenance project, worth $150,000, which will be funded 70 percent by the state and 30 percent by the city.