The Sawyer County Zoning Committee on a recorded vote approved rezone request 25-006 to change a 0.998-acre parcel from Agricultural-1 to Residential-Recreational-1, allowing construction of a residential structure on the lot. The applicant, Duffy Development LLC, was not present at the committee hearing.

Zoning administrator Jay (Jay Kozlowski) told the committee the parcel is “substandard in size” for A-1 zoning — Sawyer County requires five acres in that district — and that the request began as a town-level special-use permit. He said the Town of Round Lake approved a special-use permit conditioned on the applicant pursuing a rezone. Town officials who signed the town action included James Strandlin, chair, and supervisors Kate Wilson, Scott Bebrek, Dan Palmer and Darren Jensen.

The committee heard public comment opposing the rezone. Kim Foster of Saint Paul and a property owner on West Indian Lake said she and neighbors had appeared at town meetings and opposed the rezone; Linda Zilmer, an Edgewater property owner, said the parcel is wooded but adjacent to active agricultural uses and urged the committee to consider compatibility of future agricultural operations with new residential lots.

County legal counsel Rebecca (county corporation counsel) advised the committee that, based on the legal review, the proposal did not appear to constitute unlawful spot zoning given surrounding residential uses on other substandard parcels.

Committee member Kaye Wilson moved to approve the rezone with findings of fact 2, 3 and 13; the motion was seconded and passed on roll call. The committee recorded the following: Yes — Ron Buchholz, Kaye Wilson, Tweed Schuman; absent or unreachable at roll call — Marshall Savitsky; one member recused from the item. The motion carried and the rezone was approved.

The rezone file includes the town’s findings and the zoning staff report. The zoning administrator said the parcel appears to be an older remnant created more than two decades ago; staff did not identify the original mechanism that produced the substandard lot. The committee did not impose conditions on the rezone beyond the change of district.

The committee chair closed the item after the vote; the applicant was not in attendance and did not speak.