Planning and Zoning Director Tim Nelson brought the latest revision of the Cook County Land Use Guide Plan (LUGP) to the county board on January 26 with recommendation that commissioners adopt the plan that had been approved by the planning commission on December 30, 2015.
Nelson gave a brief summary of the process to this point. He reminded the board that the LUGP committee had been meeting since 2014 when the board authorized updating the plan and retained John Powers of Applied Insights North to facilitate the process. There were many committee meetings and a number of public meetings, said Nelson.
Commissioner Jan Sivertson said she thought the document was good and she appreciated all the work that went into it. “I like the tone of it,” she said.
Commissioner Ginny Storlie expressed appreciation to Nelson and his staff and the 18 people who spent so much time on the plan. She said she had attended several meetings and noted there was a lot of “stretching and growing.” She added that as West End commissioner, she especially appreciated the language which stressed that the county continue to work with townships and citizens in the unorganized territories.
Commissioners Frank Moe and Garry Gamble both lauded the commitment of the volunteers who spent so much time on the document, however Moe said the document is more restrictive than he would like to see. “I would like more freedom for citizens to do what they want on their own land,” said Moe.
Nelson told the board it had three options: to send the document back to the LUGP revision working committee or to send it back to the planning commission for more discussion and possible changes. Or, he said the board could approve it as presented.
Gamble said when it comes time to create ordinances, the county board needs to be very specific, but the LUGP can be more “generic.” Gamble said he was willing to accept the plan. “My comfort level comes from the fact that this is a guidance document,” he said.
Moe was not comfortable though and he read a list of proposed changes, all related to his district. There was a great deal of discussion regarding several statements Moe wanted to delete or modify, such as: “residents in remote areas are encouraged to use renewable methods of electrical generation and telecommunications systems not requiring utility corridor extensions.” Moe asked that “in remote areas” be stricken, stating that this creates a double standard for citizens in rural areas such as the people in his district. The board agreed to delete that phrase.
Moe also asked to delete the statement on the future condition of the eastern Highway 61 corridor that declares that the corridor “experiences a less intense and lower level of development than the stretch west of the city.” He said he didn’t believe that property owners east of Grand Marais would be comfortable with this restriction. Moe made that a motion but was not seconded and that change was not made.
There was more discussion on the paragraph describing the future condition of the east end, with Moe arguing again that the language was too prescriptive. He gained little support but one request, to eliminate the paragraph stating that “…public land has been maintained and perhaps increased” was accepted by his colleagues and that section was deleted.
Moe also questioned another sentence noting that “trail-based and dispersed (e.g, hunting ) recreational activity is actively supported, especially dog mushing, horseback riding, ATVing and hiking, none of which is aggressively promoted for intensive use.” Moe asked that “none of which is aggressively promoted” be deleted. He said with the ongoing comprehensive trail planning under way, there could well be trailheads that should be promoted. His colleagues agreed and that change was made.
Nelson suggested that the east end of the county consider meeting and developing its own “sub-area plan” to address some of Moe’s concerns. Moe responded, “The east end wants less planning, not more.”
A motion was finally passed to adopt the LUGP with the few changes suggested by Moe that were approved by the board. The plan will be updated and will be available for review on the county’s website at www. co.cook.mn.us.
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