Oneida County committee postpones vote on zoning and shoreland ordinance amendments

The Oneida County Planning and Development Committee on Feb. 24 held a public hearing on Ordinance Amendment #13-2022, a set of proposed changes to the county Zoning and Shoreland Protection Ordinance, and voted to postpone a decision so staff can provide additional information.

Scott Holewinski, chair of the Oneida County Planning and Development Committee, called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. Karl Jennrich, Oneida County planning and zoning director, outlined the scope of the amendment, saying it would amend multiple chapters, articles and sections of the Oneida County Zoning and Shoreland Protection Ordinance to change language standards and requirements. Jennrich said on the record that “all of the proposed language was not published due to costs, but that it was and will be available in the department during normal business hours, as well as on the county website.”

The proposed changes were provided to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and DNR comments were included in the committee file, Jennrich said. He also said the public notice ran in the Northwoods River News on Feb. 10 and Feb. 17, 2026, and the Notice was posted on the Oneida County Courthouse bulletin board on Feb. 5; a proof of publication and an affidavit of mailing are contained in the file.

Outside counsel Larry Konopacki (appearing via Zoom) discussed legal aspects of the proposed amendments. Chair Holewinski then opened the public portion of the hearing. The record shows public comments were received from Fred Knoch, Jeff Verdoorn, Michele Sadauskas and Eric Rempala; the meeting minutes state those comments were read into the record and are included in the committee file, but the transcript excerpt provided does not include verbatim text of their remarks.

After the public comments, committee member Dan Hess moved, and Mitchell Ives seconded, to postpone a decision and have Jennrich return to a future meeting with updates and answers to questions. The motion passed with all members present — Scott Holewinski, Mitchell Ives, Dan Hess and Billy Fried — voting in favor. The committee scheduled a follow-up meeting for March 4, 2026. Chair Holewinski adjourned the meeting at 1:49 p.m.

The committee did not adopt any changes to the ordinance at the Feb. 24 meeting; the amendment will return for further committee review at a later date when staff has provided the requested clarifications and any additional documentation.