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Planning commissioners debate contractor‑yard rules, signal support to remove event centers from rural tourism rules
Summary
Commissioners reviewed proposed contractor's yard language (minimum acreage, vehicle and employee caps, setbacks and screening) and took a non‑binding straw poll favoring removing wedding/event centers from the Rural Tourism Ordinance; items will return to the subcommittee for refinement.
Planning commissioners on May 14 discussed two zoning policy matters: draft interim‑use language for Contractor's Yards in the Agriculture/Residential District and whether to remove wedding and event centers from the Rural Tourism Ordinance.
Chair Jeremiah Sedler read the subcommittee’s proposed language for Contractor’s Yard interim uses, which would require owner/operators to hold title, set a minimum parcel size of 10 acres, require a 500‑foot setback from any residential house (except the owner/operator), cap vehicles at 20 commercially licensed motorized or non‑motorized vehicles (including trucks and trailers), limit onsite employees to 20, set a 150‑foot storage setback from property lines, and mandate screening and application materials (site plan, parking plan, materials inventory, screening plan, business plan). Sedler also proposed adding explicit prohibitions for dismantling or salvaging vehicles, storing derelict/unregistered vehicles, and improper disposal of regulated fluids.
Commissioners debated several elements: Commissioner Bruce Mickelson questioned whether the 500‑foot setback and the 10‑acre minimum were appropriate; Commissioner Lyle Reynolds asked for clarity on counting trailers and equipment as vehicles. Commissioner Steve Westerberg suggested the discussion be returned to the Planning Commission Subcommittee for revision. Shannon Boettcher, a member of the public, spoke in favor of the ordinance because similar businesses operate in the county and would benefit from clearer rules.
On the Rural Tourism Ordinance, the subcommittee sought the commission’s sense on removing event/wedding centers from that ordinance. The Commission took a non‑binding straw poll: eight commissioners voted Aye and one Nay. No formal action was taken; the subcommittee will reconvene to refine the language and return with recommendations.
Commissioners agreed to continue refining contractor's yard language and to carry the rural tourism item back to subcommittee for a future meeting.
