Public Comment Session, Town Meeting 2/13/2024
Town of Barksdale Referendum Question on Opting Out of Bayfield County Zoning
I would ask the Town Board to consider four things in regard to this issue.
- The process
Ask a zoning professional to attend any informational meetings to describe the process. As you may know, according to state law a Town can only opt out of County zoning at the time the County is revising the County Zoning Code.
This is planned for the future, but the County needs to find funding and intends to do a deliberate process that includes heavy engagement with the Towns. This may be 1-3 years from now.
- Some regulations will always remain with the County.
Opting out of County zoning still leaves several significant Federal and State regulations administered by the County. These include regulations for:
- Shorelands, wetlands, floodplains
- Sanitary regulations
- Non-metallic mining
- Land division regulations
- The choices with pros and cons.
Town of Barksdale residents need to understand the options including staying with County, the Town writing and enforcing their own zoning ordinances, or the Town have no general zoning whatsoever.
Citizens who pay taxes to the Town need to understand the cost of writing and enforcing zoning at the Town level. Legal challenges to the Town’s zoning can be costly.
If the Town decides to have no zoning, like the Town of Pilsen, residents need to understand there would be no property setbacks or controls about the type of use that goes next door; some of which could diminish their own property value.
- Invite in zoning resource people.
In our area, several people are well-versed in the zoning process and could be invited to any informational meetings. This includes:
- Ruth Hulstrom, Bayfield County Zoning Administrator 715-373-6138
- Jason Lauman, Northwest Regional Planning Commission 715-635-2197
- Rebecca Roberts, UW Stevens Point Center for Land Use Education 715-346-4322
Sincerely,
Ruth Oppedahl
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