(Spirit Lake)– Not in my back yard. That’s what some people are saying about a developer’s plans to build some vacation rental townhouses at the east end of 18th Street in Spirit Lake.
Developer Roger Wheeler outlined his plans at Tuesday’s Spirit Lake city council meeting. Wheeler says the site for his proposed development is very appropriate because it’s removed from other residential housing and buts up to property that’s already zoned commercial. Land on which the development would be constructed would have to be rezoned to that classification.
Wheeler says he plans to build five single family units that would be part of a townhome subdivision. Wheeler says the townhomes would be detached and separated by six to eight feet with landscaping in between.
Several neighboring property owners spoke out against Wheeler’s plans, siting concerns over population density, traffic, parking in an alley, possible adverse affects on East Lake Okoboji, and so on.
Wheeler told the council and neighbors he’s willing to address atleast some of the concerns.
Wheeler is requesting to build the development under what’s known as a “Planned Unit Development”, or a negotiated development. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted four-to-one last week to approve Wheeler’s request, with a stipulation an alley be widened to 20 feet. Steve Balm was the lone P & Z member to vote against the proposal. He told the council Tuesday he wants the alley widened even more to better accomodate emergency vehicles.
After discussing the issue at length and hearing various comments for about an hour and-a-half, the council voted unanimously to table the issue. Several council members said they want more time to learn exactly what a P-U-D is. The council will meet in the next week or so with the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission on the matter.
The city’s Board of Adjustment has the final say on whether or not a P-U-D could be established. The area would also have to be rezoned to a commercial district to accomodate such a project. Currently it’s zoned Lakeshore Residential.
Wheeler currently operates a similar vacation rental at 1209 Lake Drive. Neighbors of that operation have complained about traffic, noise, pollution and other issues. Wheeler Tuesday signed an agreement with the city allowing him to use that location for leasing or rental purposes until this coming September 15th.
