Development remains on hold

By Danielle Strenke
The Harris City Council voted unanimously to extend a development moratorium for 45 days at its Sept. 5 meeting.
Following a recommendation from city attorney Kevin Shoeberg, the council extended the moratorium on all development within the city until the cityís new zoning ordinance could be completed.
The moratorium has been in effect since March, allowing time to re-work the cityís previous zoning ordinance. It was scheduled to be lifted Sept. 4.
Shoeberg told the council last Thursday that he needed more time to work on the ordinance. ìWe have been putting in a tremendous amount of hours on this and the draft is almost done,î Shoeberg said.
The extension will delay any development such as business expansion and subdivisions until after Oct. 19, 2002.
Establishing new subdivision and zoning ordinances has been an extensive project in Harris. The six-month moratorium this year was the second such decree from the city in three years. The previous moratorium was valid for 18 months.
Shoeberg expressed confusion over the delay in completing the ordinance during the 18-month moratorium, before he was hired as the cityís attorney. ìI donít know why it didnít get done,î he said.
Council members asked whether anything from the work done on the ordinance previously was in the new draft. ìAs far as what youíve done with the ordinances how far out of whack were they,î Dan Walton asked.
Shoeberg said the basic content of the ordinances are the same. ìThe content is still there but the design has changed a lot,î he said. ìWhat you had before was very complicated. Weíve added a definition section with 180 definitions, as an example.î
He said the new ordinances will be much more user-friendly, making it easier for city staff and residents to understand.
Shoeberg said the 45 day extension would be long enough to complete the draft and submit it for review from the planning commission and review from the city council.
One audience member was concerned about delaying development longer. ìNot having it off in September will cost me a lot of money for hiring contractors in the winter,î he said. ìWeíve been very patient and I know thereís others who feel the same way.î
Walton told the audience that with the discovery that a former clerk had stolen money from the city over several years, the city is still trying to recover. ìWeíre trying to make it right. We put a stop to that and we are trying to get this thing right. It will benefit everyone to come up with a safeguard with this ordinance.î

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