(Spirit Lake)– One lakes area city is thinking about relaxing height restrictions for buildings in certain parts of town.
The Spirit Lake city council reviewed but took no action Tuesday on such a proposal from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. They want to gather some input from the public first.
Councilman Clyde Ihrke says the issue was brought to the forefront by the need to develop more affordable housing in the city. He says contractors have been telling them it’s much less expensive to go up than to expand a building’s foot print.
Under one proposal being explored, building heights on lakeshore property in the city would be grandfathered in at the current restriction, and couldn’t be changed without rezoning. Ihrke says that would help protect the lakes and shoreline.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will gather more input and report back at a future council meeting.
