Teresa Vollenweider of 5201 Northeast Maybrook Road addressed the Planning Commission during public comment on Oct. 9, saying that she believes some rezoning decisions have been used to enable private amenities and permissive uses that otherwise would not meet zoning setbacks.

"If we don't grant the rezoning... the land is going to sit," Vollenweider said during her four-minute public comment, then described a parcel she said is less than four acres and not particularly suited to significant agriculture. She asserted that a property had been rezoned to RLL so the owners could meet setbacks to install a swimming pool and operate a baseball field as a business, and she said she had found similar deeds in other cases.

Vollenweider also referenced deed dates and parcel divisions in the late 1990s as evidence she said showed irregularities. "This was the deed that, Hamline brought the property 1997. He divided the property in 1999," she said, and pressed whether staff and packets include deed information. She characterized one earlier action as a "reconsideration" and said that concerned her.

Chair moved the meeting forward after the comment; staff and commissioners did not take formal action on the points raised during the public-comment period. The commission’s agenda proceeded to its scheduled public hearings and presentations.

Why it matters: Public comments do not themselves create formal land-use actions, but residents’ concerns can prompt staff to review record materials or prompt commissioners to request follow-up if the issue is brought as an agenda item. In this case, Vollenweider asked the commission to scrutinize how rezoning and lot-division records are handled and whether applicants are using rezoning to accommodate private amenities.

The commission did not open a public hearing on the matter and made no immediate ruling; the remarks were part of the meeting’s public-comment period.