(Spirit Lake)– With one member absent, the Dickinson county Planning and Zoning Commission gave its blessings Monday allowing developers of a subdivision on the northeast side of Big Spirit Lake to proceed with a preliminary plat.
The development, proposed for the Sandbar Beach area, has drawn opposition from environmentalists concerned it could endanger one of the last remaining establishments of bull rushes in the Iowa Great Lakes. The weed is said to be an important habitat for fish and helps with water quality.
To address the concerns, Mike Zenor, an attorney representing developers Don and Nancy Yarns, said they are willing to invoke some covenants, including one that would limit the number of docks to four. They would also have to be constructed in such a way so as not to interfere with the bull rushes. Those would in addition to numerous other covenants being considered.
Orville Berg of the Cleanwater Alliance of the Iowa Great Lakes expressed concern over the covenants, saying they should be perpetual. Zenor said some kind of a contractual arrangement to make the covenants more permanent is something they’d be willing to look at.
Monday’s authorization by the Planning and Zoning Commission allows the proposed development to proceed to the next stage of preliminary plat…which will come back before the commission as well as the board of supervisors.
