Pictured: Colin Wernimont (R) and his legal counsel outlining the welding shop plans during Monday’s Carroll City Council meeting.
The Carroll City Council split 3-3 Monday night regarding a rezoning request for a property outside city limits but under the city’s planning and zoning regulations. The property in question is owned by Richard and Marcie Wernimont. It sits just under a mile northeast of town on Noble Avenue. Their son, Colin Wernimont, had planned to build a welding shop on the property that would be used primarily for the family’s farming operation, but some small-scale manufacture of John Deere equipment parts would also occur in the structure if approved. The Wernimonts are requesting two parcels of land, totaling about 45 acres, be rezoned from an agricultural district with agricultural preservation overlay to an I-2, or general industrial district, so that the shop could be built. Ward 4 Councilwoman Carolyn Siemann says she and the council want to support young entrepreneurs, but the community’s existing comprehensive plan limits their options.
She adds that an I-2 designation would allow for sanitary landfills, sewage lagoons, stockyards, junkyards, or other similar uses to be constructed in that area, even if that is not their intent. Rezoning approval would bring other legal hurdles to the city, as it would create an island of differently zoned land surrounded by agricultural land, which is considered “spot zoning” by state code and illegal. The city has received at least four similar requests over the last 18 months that were denied on nearly identical grounds. Interim City Manager Jeff Cayler says this approval would remove the legal justification for those denials.
The council chambers were close to capacity at Monday’s meeting. Nobody who spoke during the public hearing outright opposed the rezoning. Before the council voted on the issue, City Attorney Dave Bruner offered his legal advice.
A motion to reject the rezoning request failed on a 3-3 tie vote, with councilmembers Carolyn Siemann, LaVern Dirkx, and JJ Schreck supporting the denial and Misty Boes, Kyle Bauer, and Tom Bordenaro favoring the change. City officials then turned their attention to the options they had to help the project. The comprehensive plan, which was approved in 2009, could be revamped, but that could take up to 18 months and would be an expensive proposition. Alternatively, the Planning and Zoning Board could propose an amendment to the city’s comprehensive plan, but any changes would need to originate from the P&Z board and not result in spot zoning. This issue will likely be brought back to the council’s agenda in upcoming meetings. Video from last night’s (Monday) proceedings is included below.
