Rezoning talks continue, police presence questioned at Elkader council meeting
By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register
The Elkader City Council continues to mull over Ordinance 2024-04, a rezoning ordinance that failed a little over a month ago when it did not receive a majority of votes. At that time, council member Tony Hauber was the most outspoken, voting against the ordinance because he believed it to be a “reactionary policy” directed at dealing with a shipping container issue that has somehow reached its tentacles into other aspects of council decision making. Despite being a settled issue, it continues to be a headache for the city.
That headache, according to council member Daryl Bruxvoort, has apparently turned into frustration for the planning and zoning commission (P&Z). Bruxvoort, speaking at the most recent council meeting, discussed a conversation with P&Z member Brian Hastings.
What Bruxvoort took away from that meeting was a sense that the commission was “more than a little frustrated,” and gave the impression they did not have “enough direction” or an “overarching picture” of what the council was looking for when it sought recommendations for the ordinance.
City administrator Jennifer Cowsert indicated no one had expressed that sentiment to her, though she stated, “I understand they were frustrated that council did not pass what they sent.”
However, one of the reasons the ordinance did not pass was related to the fact P&Z “went above what council wanted,” Cowsert said.
“The council asked them to make a recommendation on rezoning. But then they added the changes to the permitted uses. Changing the permitted uses is a big deal because any uses allowed in C-1, which is highway commercial, was recommended to be allowed in C-2,” Cowsert said.
This was also part of Hauber’s reasoning for voting “no,” since there was, in his mind, no justification for why the zones were being combined. As such, the latest version of the ordinance, which was tabled at the last meeting due to Hauber and council member Randy Henning’s absence, has completely removed a section that combined the permitted uses in both C-1 and C-2. The newest version, while not aligning with the recommendation from P&Z, updated the list of permitted uses to a smaller extent, going from a list of 23 to 12.
“The planning and zoning suggested the permitted uses from C-1 be merged with C-2. The proposal did not include that recommendation but did update the permitted uses some,” Cowsert said.
Among those removed from the ordinance were dry cleaners, automotive, lumber yard, funeral parlor and farming, while some that were retained included dwelling units, hotels and motels, restaurants, retail and commercial amusements. This should more align with the stated intent of C-2, which is to accommodate the business district and prevent what Hauber previously noted would be “conflicting intents.”
Still, the frustration was only half the equation mentioned by Bruxvoort. The other part dealt with a perceived lack of direction, and led to Bruxvoort positing the development of a larger vision for downtown.
On this point, Cowsert believes there are two different issues. Firstly, concerning the rezoning ordinance, she believes there “was a clear objective,” though she understood the argument for an “overall vision” or an “overarching master document,” as Bruxvoort put it, for downtown as a whole.
“In the interim at planning and zoning, we can be a little more specific and say we want you to clean up around the edges a few things. I think that would be fine, too, but I think we really need to think about something bigger,” Bruxvoort said at the meeting.
Bruxvoort did not comment when asked outside the meeting what he had in mind regarding “something bigger.” Regardless, that something bigger tends to run into conflicts, as pointed out by mayor Josh Pope at the meeting. He suggested “part of the problem” for grand visions is the fact that city officials, including those on P&Z, serve terms, and the vision of one group might not be the same vision as the next group.
“You get a different group in, you get a different council, and everybody has their own and pretty soon that big vision is now pulled down and put up another big vision,” Pope said.
Hastings was contacted for comment regarding the frustration and whether or not P&Z lacked a clear objective, but did not respond.
As it stands, the ordinance should be back on the agenda at the Nov. 25 meeting.
The previous meeting also dealt with issues over campaign signs and a perceived lack of police presence downtown. Regarding political signs, though Pope acknowledged that, at this point, it’s too late to deal with the issue this year, something should be done for the future.
According to Cowsert, there are two main concerns. The first is getting people to understand signs are not allowed in the right of way, and the size of sign the city allows. On the latter part, Cowsert stated that 8 square feet is all that is allowed. The problem arises when some locations have multiple signs, that, when combined, are more than 8 square feet, while others have one sign that is bigger than 8 square feet.
“I was just asking if they wanted to look at this and update it since it has been brought up recently. And, yes, it is too late for this year, but if they think it needs to be changed we could change it for the future,” Cowsert said.
As for the lack of police presence, council member Bob Garms mentioned he talked with several people who questioned why, with a police department with three officers, “they don’t see more law enforcement during the day.”
While the mayor noted officers have been swapping vehicles, with one being down recently, Garms said people “were just concerned.”
“They don’t see an officer much during the day,” Garms said.
When reached for comment, Elkader Police Chief Mitch Seitz didn’t believe there was a decrease in police activity downtown, though maybe there was a decrease in “public things” that are more noticeable. Seitz also mentioned that he, like the other two officers, volunteer as coaches and for other things in the community, while also working on a few bigger cases recently.
Seitz added he has “made it a priority” to be more visible during the day since the concern was brought up at the council meeting, and hopes it has been noticed.
