County adopts Sunrise Lake overlay ordinance

By MaryHelen Swanson
Homeowners around Sunrise Lake, at the southern end of Chisago County, are happy these days.
Last week the county board approved an ordinance amendment which establishes an overlay district around the lake restricting residential growth.
It will cut the development in half, noted property owner John Nelson during the public hearing. ìItís what the property owners want.î
A task force was charged with studying development issues for the lake area and preparing the ordinance working with the county planning commission and county staff.
It took a while, but it has been completed and those in attendance at the public hearing last week seemed satisfied with the results.
Sunrise Lake, 840-acres in size, located north of Lindstrom, is the countyís largest Natural Environment Lake. It received this status when the county requested the classification from the Department of Natural Resources in 1986.
As stated in the new ordinance, the purpose of the overlay district is is to protect and preserve unique natural, scenic, recreational, fish and wildlife, historic and similar values.
Minimum lot size is now five acres.
Following the commissionersí unanimous vote, Commissioner Ben Montzka told those in the audience that he encourages other people to look at the rules that affect their neighborhoods and make them known to the county board.
In that vein, Robert Palme of Chisago City presented the board with a petition with 126 signatures.
The people expressed concern over a cluster development being proposed by North Star Development Company at Birch Lake.
They are concerned that the cluster development and centralized septic system being proposed will be detrimental to nearby residential wells that are only 60-feet deep.
They are also concerned for the impact on wildlife and worried about increased traffic and increased cost of maintenance by municipalities that could reduce the value of their properties.
The commissioners accepted the petition packets; there was no discussion or action.

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