Consultants present draft ordinance rewrite to Mercer County commissioners; focus on enforcement, bonds and fees

Consultants delivering an amended planning-and-zoning contract presented a multi-chapter draft of updated ordinances and a set of discussion items for Mercer County commissioners and the planning and zoning board.

The consultant said the draft addresses enforcement capacity, inspection requirements, scaled bonds for higher-risk industrial uses and fee schedules designed to offset inspection and enforcement costs. "One of the novel things that we came up with ... is as you're looking at industrial properties, particularly noisy industrial properties ... they need to post a bond for noise mitigation so that if their acoustic studies don't come back as accurate ... the residents of this county have some rights," the consultant said, urging bonds and scalable fees tied to project size. The draft also includes optional language and process guidance for worker housing or "man camps" and raised the prospect of allowing limited smaller-lot recreational residential development near Lake Sakakawea as a future policy discussion rather than an immediate change.

Commissioners debated sequencing: several urged finishing and adopting ordinances quickly to have rules in place for incoming project proposals; others recommended coordinating ordinance adoption with an updated comprehensive land-use plan to avoid conflicting documents. The board directed planning and zoning staff to review the draft, asked the consultant to provide option-based language in advance of a joint meeting (so commissioners can select a preferred option during the session), and signaled interest in targeted fee research comparing Williams, McKenzie and Stark counties.

What’s next: planning and zoning will meet to review the draft; the consultant will prepare a one-week advance packet with clear option choices and recommended language for a joint PNZ/commission workshop before the next major meeting cycle.