At the July 8 Grand Marais City Council meeting, the City Council tabled a vote on a sweeping new zoning ordinance. They did this because several councilors were afraid that the public was largely unaware of the content of the ordinance. They were correct.
The goal of the new ordinance is to ease restrictions that inhibit the creation of affordable housing and permit several new development ideas. This goal has become an afterthought. What the proposed ordinance encourages and incentivizes is high density urban development. It proposes (city wide) to dramatically reduce the allowable (buildable) lot size from 10,000 square feet to 4000 square feet. Setbacks have also been reduced to 5 feet. Lot coverage has been increased to 50 percent. The principal reason for increasing lot coverage, lowering lot size, and lowering setbacks is to encourage the construction of row houses and townhouses on these small lots.
Should this ordinance pass, Grand Marais will be well on the path to becoming Bluefin Marais. The homes that will be built on these small lots will be narrow, and they will be tall. They will be spaced as closely together as possible. They will not be affordable to most Cook County residents. They will become second homes.
The day this ordinance passed the planning commission, City Administator Mike Roth stated that it did so with “a grand total of no comments”. The last time the Grand Marais City Council was about to vote on a new zoning ordinance, the City Council had received thousands of comments, conducted group tours of effected areas, and held multiple large community gatherings. Instead of interpreting “no comments” as public approval, the commission should have heard alarm bells.
We are in the middle of a pandemic. To say people are distracted would be the understatement of the century. This plan is deeply flawed, and most citizens of Grand Marais are unaware of the monumental and life altering changes proposed in it.
Everyone deserves equal access to information. Everyone has a right to voice their thoughts, concerns, and ideas. Many are unable or unprepared to participate via electronic communication.
The path to consensus on these issues will be difficult, and at times contentious. A decision this consequential must be made only with full public involvement. This is not possible in the middle of a pandemic.
If you are concerned about the proposed changes or believe that the process should not proceed until the public can fully participate, please call the Mayor and City Councilors. Do it now or hold your peace. They vote on August 12.
John Gorski,
Grand Marais Resident
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