| Hay Days gets county board approval |
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| Wednesday, 25 February 2009 | |
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By MaryHelen Swanson Despite last ditch efforts on the part of residents living in Sunrise Township to get the county board to vote no, the Chisago County commissioners last Wednesday, Feb. 18, approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for the Sno Barons to hold grass drag strip snowmobile races as an annual event in Sunrise Township on land near the intersection of Hwy. 95 and County Road 70. The event has been held annually on the weekend following Labor Day, near Forest Lake. The approval came with 35 conditions attached and nine finding of facts as follows: 1. The use is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and development policies of the County. 2. The use will not create an excessive demand on existing parks, schools, streets and other public facilities and utilities which serve or are proposed to serve the area. 3. The use will be sufficiently compatible or separated by distance or screening from adjacent development or land so that existing development will not be depreciated in value and there will be no deterrence to development of vacant land. The proposed use will be located primarily on a 140 acre tract of land, providing significant buffer between the use and surrounding properties, which are also large tracts of ag land. 4. The structures and site will have an appearance that will not have an adverse effect upon adjacent properties. The appearance of the site will remain essentially the same as it is at present, with the exception of the duration of the event and event-preparation days. 5. The use in the opinion of the County is reasonably related to the overall needs of the County and to the existing land use. Letters of support for the proposed event have been received from local Chambers of Commerce who have stated that the event will benefit local businesses and merchants, will feature Chisago County and its resources and amenities, and will encourage tourism and related economic development in the County. The City of Lindstrom and the four townships in closest proximity to the event, including Sunrise, the township in which the use is proposed to be situated have passed resolutions of support for the event. The County finds that the proposed use is consistent with the goals of the County’s Comprehensive Plan, which include assisting in the start-up and expansion of businesses, promoting tourism as an expanding opportunity for economic development, encouraging new business development opportunities, and working with cities and townships to identify areas suitable for commercial development and activities. 6. The use is consistent with the purposes of the zoning ordinance and the purposes of the zoning district in which the applicant intends to locate the proposed use. 7. The use will not cause traffic hazard or undue congestion. The event will likely cause traffic congestion, as indicated by the Sno-Baron’s Traffic Study.The proposal provides that traffic congestion will be supervised on site by Sno-Baron’s personnel. The proposal has been reviewed by the Chisago County Engineer, the County Sheriff and Mn/DOT, and the County finds that while traffic congestion will result from the event, it will not be undue, and it will be able to be mitigated. 8. Existing nearby businesses will not be adversely affected because of curtailment of customer trade brought about by intrusion of noise, glare or general unsightliness. Essentially, there are no businesses nearby. 9. The County finds that the event has been conducted for approximately 40 years in its present location, a far more densely populated area than the proposed location, and that any problems that were encountered as the event grew and developed were promptly corrected by the Sno-Baron’s, causing the city of Columbus to support and continue to allow the event in its jurisdiction. The 35 conditions surround the following issues: wetland delineation evaluation, duration of event, hours of operation, noise, attendance, traffic, access approval, financial surety, tracking onto CR 70, grading and drainage, parking, access to the site, law enforcement/security, celebrity security, camping, emergency preparedness and flyovers. Additional conditions cover permanent year-round structures, sanitation facilities, garbage collection, food vendors, alcohol, lighting, permanent signage, trees and landscaping, public liability and post-event report. The conditions also cover other activities on site, pre-event planning, on-site communication, site restoration, a hold harmless clause and, added last week, that all vendors, swappers and racers must enter the Hay Days site and set up prior to the Saturday event, and that the applicant must follow the traffic mitigation measures described in the traffic impact study. The vote on accepting the county planning commission’s recommendation for approval was: Mike Robinson, George McMahon and Lora Walker, yes, Ben Montzka, no, and Commissioner Rick Greene abstained citing his ownership of land adjacent to the Sno Barons site as perceived or actual conflict of interest. He had been advised by legal counsel to abstain. Commissioner Montzka said he felt that the Sno Barons event should have been an interim use and not a conditional use. The county currently does not have an interim use ordinance for such events, but Environmental Services has been directed to look into such. Another big issue dealt with last week was approval of an amendment to the CUP of the Women’s Environmental Institute, located in Amador Township, to allow expansion of their operation. The commissioners’ approval was unanimous with 28 conditions and eight findings of fact to support their decision. Both of these issues had drawn considerable study, discussion and scrutiny by the county planning commission. At the conclusion of these agenda items last week, Environmental Services Director Mary Darragh Schmitz said they had been two of the most complex issues addressed by the planning commission.            Comments (2)
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