Stark County planning commission tables 303‑acre zoning decision after missed notice; neighbors raise noise, road and property‑value concerns

Stark County planners on April 2 heard more than two hours of testimony on a proposal to change the future land use map and rezone roughly 303 acres near Taylor from prime agricultural to general industrial with a planned‑unit development overlay, but they delayed any decision after staff discovered one landowner in the statutorily required 200‑foot notice area did not receive mailed notice.

The applicant, identified in the record as Ben ****, told the commission the project is intended to build local aggregation, segregation and light processing capacity for specialty crops — including identity‑preserved hard‑white wheat — so area growers can capture higher value for quality grain. “I wanna create a closer, higher quality connection to the products we make in Western North Dakota to the consumer,” Ben said during his presentation, describing hopper bins, a grain dryer and a single‑car (manifest) rail shipping plan for Phase 1.

County planner Steve Josephson told commissioners staff recommends approval of both the future land use map amendment and the PUD rezoning in…