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From today’s Mille Lacs Messenger:

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1/16/2008 10:05:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
Planning commission agrees to listen to resorters
New panel will look at fishhouse rules
Mille Lacs resorters proved there is strength in numbers on Jan. 14, when they convinced the Mille Lacs County Planning Commission to table their proposed new fishhouse standards and convene a new panel.

And this time, those most affected will be invited to participate.

The commissioners’ room at the county courthouse was full, and most were present to state their opposition to the proposed standards.

Zoning administrator Michele McPherson started the discussion on a lighthearted note, asking, “Can I run away?”

Planning commission chairman John Roxbury said, “Just remember they can kill us, but they can’t eat us, because it’s against the Geneva Convention.”

McPherson summarized the process and the proposed standards, which include stricter requirements for setbacks, driveways, parking, toilets and screening. (The complete standards are available from Mille Lacs County or on the Messenger website at http://www.millelacsmessenger.com. Click on “news” and the headline for this story.)

McPherson said the new rules would not apply to existing fishhouse parks, but if an existing permit was revoked because of a violation, the owner would need to reapply and meet the new standards.

McPherson also summarized letters, emails and faxes she had received on the topic, including a sarcastic fax from Vernon Peterson saying the county should hire a “gestapo police force” to enforce the new rules.

Bait shop owner and Eastside Township supervisor Steve Johnson spoke first after Roxbury opened the public hearing. Johnson asked the commission to put together a group that would include people in the ice fishing business, along with township board members, a county commissioner, two planning commission members, and the county zoning administrator.

Shades of tension were evident from the beginning, when planning commission member Dennis Nelson and chairman John Roxbury asked Johnson what the problem was with the proposed standards. Nelson said, “I hate to get nasty, but I think you’re wasting your time if you don’t tell us what the problem is.”

Roxbury had limited each person to three minutes, prompting Johnson to gesture behind him at the crowd and say, “There’s a lot of heated discussion coming in behind me, and three minutes isn’t gonna do it.”

“What’s the problem?” Roxbury asked.

“If you gave me more than three minutes, I’d go through every one of them,” Johnson replied.

Johnson turned the question back on Roxbury, asking what the problem was that prompted the commission to create the new standards.

Others who spoke were former resort owner Joe Karpen, Isle City Council Member Lowell Hillbrand, and current resorters Terry McQuoid, George Nitti, Kevin McQuoid, Karen McQuoid and Brad Johnson.

Renee Miller was the only one in favor of the proposed standards. She said fishhouse parks are “out of control,” with dangerous fires, unrestrained dogs and public urination.

At the end of the meeting, planning commission member Bob Hoefert said he wanted to set up the committee Johnson and others had called for.

County Commissioner Dave Tellinghuisen agreed that a new group was in order, but he said they would need to balance the needs of the resort community with the interests of home owners. “You gotta find a way to be good neighbors,” Tellinghuisen said. “We have to look out for the entire coounty.”

McPherson said she would put together a panel including two resorters, two planning commission members, a county commissioner, and township supervisors. She said County Commissioner Frank Courteau had agreed to participate.

Roxbury said the meetings would be open to the public.

For more on this story, see the Jan. 23 issue of the Messenger. For video of Steve Johnson’s testimony before the planning commission, follow this link:

http://www.millelacsmessenger.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=17661&TM=40120.61