Chairman of board requests moratorium

By Barbara Brown
Toward the end of the July 2 Chisago County Board of Commissioners meeting, Chairman Ben Montzka relinquished his post to request a moratorium in the St. Croix Riverís scenic overlay area.
Montzka asked that the commissioners agree to a moratorium on building houses on less than 10-acre lots in the 4-mile area.
Montzka said his motivation was concern for the future of development in Chisago County and protection of the areaís natural resources.
He had suggested that the moratorium last until the review of the countyís comprehensive plan was complete, which should be the end of the year.
Although the motion failed 2-3 with Montzka and Commissioner Lora Walker voting for the moratorium, Montzka said he doesnít regret the suggestion.
He said one planning commission member had complained at an earlier meeting that he felt development in that 4-mile area was not appropriate and Montzka said he agreed.
ìWe as Chisago County residents have the God-given responsibility and duty to preserve the beauty of the county that attracted us to it,î Montzka said.
ìIf you treat the St. Croix River valley the same as every other part of the county, you are doing a disservice.î
Earlier at the same meeting, the commissioners voted to approve a rezoning request from Don and Estelle Palmer and Emmitt Haraldson of 260 acres in southern Chisago County.
The Wyoming Township property could be developed into housing developments with lots as small as one acre.
The previous zoning for the area was agricultural which allowed for housing construction, but only if a house was built on 5-acre lots.
The Palmer and Haraldson families asked to change the zoning to rural residential-1, which would allow one house per one acre.
All of the public comment at the hearing portion of the meeting came from neighbors of the property owners who supported the zoning change.
The request to rezone the property was approved 3-2 with Walker and Montzka voting against it.
ìItís difficult for me to support this rezoning because the (comprehensive) plan is being reviewed. The size of this rezoning is unparalleled in the last five years,î Montzka said, adding that he didnít like the idea of high-density housing in the middle of agricultural areas.
Commissioner Mike Robinson disagreed. He said some of the 260 acres couldnít even be built on because of its wetland characteristics.
ìThese farmers have worked hard all their lives,î he said. ìThey deserve the right to get what they can get for their property.î
Commissioner Bob Gustafson agreed with Robinson.
ìI hate to see our farm land go by the wayside,î he said, ìbut when you look at this particular property, it makes sense.î
Also at the meeting, County Attorney Katherine Johnson asked the board to combine the victims assistance program budget into the county attorneyís budget.
The request was sparked by the fact that the victims assistance program is run out of the attorneyís office.
She said the program, however, had always kept a separate budget.
She said she made the request because both the attorneyís office and the victims assistance program share office space, supplies, computer systems and the county attorney ultimately oversees the program.
The victims assistance program is funded partly by forfeiture money and partly through a grant.
Combining the budgets would improve budget efficiency and save staff time and paperwork in the county attorneyís and auditorís offices, Johnson said.
County auditor Dennis Freed said in an e-mail to County Administrator John Moosey that the board could approve combining the budgets, but that he could not see any benefit to the auditorís office because his office still would be responsible for tracking the costs associated with the grants for the program.
He also said in the e-mail that while the county and state are in an uncertain budget time, the county should continue on its path of budgeting the way it has in the past to ensure correct information about the true cost of a program and to keep consistency.
The board voted to combine the budgets for next year.

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