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A request for an Interim Use Permit (IUP) to install three R.V. sites and two tent sites on two acres in an R-1 Zone was denied by a 7-0 vote by the Cook County Planning Commission.
On Wednesday, March 13, the vote came after the planning commission held a public hearing.
The request came from Jeff and Dana Bartheld, who live at 3911 East Highway 61, Grand Marais.
Initially, the couple hoped for a conditional use permit. But County Land Commissioner Tim Nelson said a conditional use permit (CUP) could be carried forward even if a property was sold. In contrast, an interim use permit would have to be revisited every year by the planning commission, where it would be approved or taken away.
The Bartheld’s said they wouldn’t mind if they had to come forward every year to reinstate an IUP.
The planning commission received 58 pages of written complaints against the Bartheld proposal. One lady said she originally supported the interim use permit but testified that she had changed her mind after talking with Bartheld neighbors.
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” She said, adding that the Barthelds never bothered to get permits, didn’t take their neighbors into account when they cut trees, and what they had done to the property didn’t seem to fit the neighborhood.
Cook County Planning and Zoning Administrator Neva Maxwell read the Bartheld request to the commissioners and audience members.
Maxwell said the Bartheld proposal met the county’s definition of a campground. However, she pointed out that the three R.V. pads are ten feet from the property line and don’t meet the county setback rules. She also said public comments listed many complaints. Among those was the two-acre site wasn’t big enough to accommodate two tents and three R.V. pads; there was a lack of a vegetive buffer between neighbors, there was a lack of parking, there was light pollution affecting neighbors’ homes, and more. She noted the Barthehld’s had done their property without getting the proper permits.
Comments were also heard about the size and scope of the project growing more extensive in the future if the interim use permit was okayed.
When it was the Bartheld’s turn to talk, Jeff said he didn’t know where any of the comments were coming from. Dana Bartheld noted the addition of lodging was for friends, not a campground, so they could come and visit them. “We weren’t aware we needed to have a conditional use permit for them to visit.”
She added that none of the couples’ friends stayed longer than a weekend.
“We do not have any interest in running or starting a campground,” she said. The only time tent and R.V. sites might be full would be for a church retreat held in June. The couple are members of the Freshwater UMC Church, and they were asked by their pastor to help start a UMC church in the county. But Dana promised, “We’re not starting a church or running a church.” She also said they weren’t setting up a recovery center for people addicted to drugs or alcohol. Dana is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor, but she admitted, “At my age, I’m not going to start a recovery center. I’m too damn old.”
Jeff Bartheld said the couple’s only plan was to accommodate friends, nothing else, and he was perplexed by what he was hearing from his neighbors.
One of those neighbors commented back, “We all have friends come and stay, but none of us need to build tents and R.V. sites.”
James Vannett told commissioners he worried about the lack of parking and potential for vehicle accidents during the Bartheld’s planned June church gathering and worship praise band. Jim cited fast-moving summer traffic on Highway 61 and vehicles that would be parked along the highway because there wasn’t enough parking space on the Bartheld property.
Next door neighbor Bev Pratt asked commissioners to turn down the IUP, and Jerry Jensen said much the same. Deb Vannett said she takes care of Pratt’s dogs when they go away, and she said the lights from the Bartheld property would glare into the Pratt house at night.
Motchenbacher closed the meeting to the public and gave the Barthelds one more chance to talk. Jeff said, “This is some of the most foolishness I have ever heard.” He also said the couple never heard from retired Cook County Planning Director Bill Lane about any potential problems. He added that the biggest problem was that Bev Pratt didn’t like him clearing his property, and he had indeed moved the overhead light that shone into her house when asked to do so.
None of the commissioners supported granting the interim use permit, most citing that the land was too small to fit what the Barthelds were requesting.
Motchenbacher said the property along Highway 61 had been developed in such a way as not to follow the county’s shoreline land-use plan. She rattled off complaints by neighbors stating the land was too small to fit the request; the location for a campground was in an R-1 zone; The use was too intense; there was inadequate vegetive screening for neighbors, and the plan didn’t jive with the county land-use plan.
Motchenbacher called for a resolution and a second, followed by a 7-0 vote to deny the IUP. The decision isn’t final because the planning commission’s recommendation will go before the county board for a binding vote. However, as Tim Nelson pointed out, no one will be able to testify or talk at the county board meeting, and the board will be left to discuss the findings of the planning commission before they vote.
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