(Arnolds Park)– The city of Arnolds Park is taking the Dickinson county board of supervisors to court over a rezoning issue.
The supervisors voted four-to-one last month to approve a Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation to approve the rezoning of what’s known as the “Nielsen Property” on the southeast side of East Lake Okoboji. The rezoning was requested for the construction of condominiums and an indoor water park.
Some stipulations were attached by the supervisors, including one prohibiting the land from being annexed into the city of Arnolds Park. Arnolds Park City Administrator Ron Walker says that stipulation resulted in the council taking some action at a special meeting Tuesday. He says the City Attorney was directed to file a petition for declaratory judgement to void the annexation restriction. Walker says it’s the council’s concensus that since most of the services to that area will be provided by Arnolds Park, that the city should be able to atleast consider annexing that area in the future.
On a related note, the council also Tuesday voted to terminate a 28E agreement under which the city provides fire protection to Center Grove Township. The termination is effective July 1st, 2006…the earliest possible date the city can opt out.
Walker says the city will also be reviewing EMS and mutual aid law enforcement contracts with that area over the next 12 to 14 months to see if those need to be revised. In addition to the Nielsen property, those agreements also cover the Kelly’s Beach/Twin Hills and Moore Lake Development areas.
That could put a supervisor who voted in favor of the rezoning and anti-annexation stipulation in an awkward position. Mardi Allen lives in the Moore Lake Development and represents that area. She wasn’t immediately available for comment Wednesday as she was in Des Moines along with supervisors Paul Johnson, Pam Jordan and Wayne Northey.
