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Resident presses council on annexation zoning changes and public-notice concerns
Summary
A resident told the Town Council she believes annexation agreements are being negotiated and approved before the public has opportunity to review them and asked whether the town is complying with transparency requirements.
Donna Fatke, a St. John resident, told the Town Council she has tracked plan commission and council actions and believes a change to the town zoning ordinance last year has allowed property owners to negotiate zoning before annexation, leaving the public and planning commissioners without meaningful opportunity to review proposed projects.
Fatke said she has seen projects presented to the plan commission with negotiated zoning and plots she says were already approved as part of annexation agreements. “As far as I can tell, these deals are done a done deal before the public has even had an opportunity to see them or to comment on them,” she said during the public-comment period.
Town staff and council members responded by offering to meet with her to explain the process. Town Manager Billy and the town attorney encouraged Fatke to make an appointment to review how annexations and zoning changes are processed. Clerk Katie (recorded in the meeting as "Katie") told Fatke that annexations involve multiple readings and public hearings and are publicized.
No formal action was taken; the remarks were part of the public-comment portion of the agenda and the council did not vote on any change to policy or process during the meeting.
