New Township Zoning – the Future!
The Ortonville Township Board is busy creating – (I understand they are now meeting weekly to get this accomplished)…
- their own Comprehensive Plan and
- more restrictive zoning Ordinances…
Big Stone County has a population of 5,269 (that is about the population of Montevideo)
If individual Township Zoning is such a great idea – and surely we come from a very rich tax base so as to afford and encourage this – I was thinking that maybe then it would make sense for all 14 of our Townships to also create their own comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances. But then I was thinking, I live in Ortonville – and we have a population of about 1,900 vs that of the appx. 100 or less of the Ortonville Township… maybe, so that I am better represented in my immediate neighborhood, the City of Ortonville should break into Wards of about the same size… 19 wards in Ortonville with their own Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinances… and of course Boards and Staff to maintain them.
… and we should do all of this to make sure that another Company like L.G. Everist does not move into our County. We don’t need those kinds of jobs or the tax base (our residents & businesses do not need any help with their tax expenses) and our current local businesses certainly do not need the additional business that they would derive from this type of industry (note: That statement was sarcasm!) In all seriousness, L.G. Everist has been here for years – they are an asset to our County and I would not want to lose any of the families that benefit from the jobs that L.G. Everist provides.
In 2005, Patrick Moore of CURE was noted as saying that CURE and other groups have joined together to fight against mining in the Minnesota River Valley and “We represent thousands of members. We are speaking as one voice on this issue”.
The opposition argues that more local control is needed hence Ortonville Township’s new Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinances… is CURE’s “thousands of members” the local control we are looking for? Keep in mind that when the majority of those “thousands of members” are done fighting to keep jobs out of Big Stone County, they will be going home to jobs that were created in their communities, Counties, Townships – just like they did with Big Stone II. I don’t want to sit back and quietly watch that happen again.
I am surprised that the Ortonville Township would carry this to such an extreme, considering it is based on hypotheticals.
Disappointing!