(Spirit Lake)– Anyone who lives in an unincorporated area of Dickinson county looking to put up a new fence may soon have a new requirement to meet. The county’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-1 Monday to recommend the board of supervisors require that BOTH sides of any new fences erected in the unincorporated areas be IDENTICAL.
Zoning Administrator David Kohlhaase told commissioners the proposed new requirement stems from neighborhood disputes in some areas around the lakes in which a neighbor has put up a fence out of spite. He says in some cases, the fence is purposely designed with one side that’s uglier than the other, and the neighbor is forced to look at it.
In other business, the commission voted to recommend the supervisors amend an article in the zoning ordinance to add service stations as a permitted principal commercial use in the Highway Commercial District.
Another proposed recommendation that would have deleted convenience stores and service stations as principal commercial uses in the Agricultural District and to instead add them as a conditional principal use, which would have required approval by the Board of Adjustment, died for lack of a motion.
Another recommendation under consideration by the commission would require special markers on guy wires of towers.
While the proposal is intended mainly for towers used to gather data for wind farms, or “met” towers, commissioners said they can’t rule out the possibility of including ALL types of guyed towers, including broadcast and cell towers.
When asked what precipitated the matter, Kohlhaase said it was a request he received a local crop dusting pilot who also serves on the county’s Board of Adjustment, which will be considering applications for additional “met” towers in the future. The concern is that the towers are difficult to see, as they do not have to abide by Federal Aviation Administration rules pertaining to painting and lighting because they are under a 200 foot high threshold the agency uses.
The commission also reviewed but took no action on making a formal recommendation to the board of supervisors regarding the extent to which trees and shrubs may be cut along the lakeshore in districts with no front yard setbacks, such as General Commercial areas.
