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Liberty Grove’s Heartland-10 Zoning Request Fails

A request from the Town of Liberty Grove to change the uses allowed in Heartland-10 zoning didn’t survive the final vote on the county board floor Jan. 24.

At issue was a request to change the zoning to allow auto repair and trade or contractor services in the 10-acre zoning classification. The request came from a Liberty Grove family that wants to expand its business – a request the town then advanced.

Almost all of the Heartland-10 zoning parcels are currently located in Liberty Grove; the only one that’s not is in Baileys Harbor. But zoning classifications can change in the future, and the change would apply to all nine of the towns that are currently under county zoning. 

None of those towns had previously rendered an opinion about the change, but by the January meeting, three had. The towns of Sevastopol, Sturgeon Bay and Washington did not support the change, Mariah Goode, director of county Land Use Services, told the supervisors.

The county’s Resource Planning Committee (RPC) had initially approved the request, but when it got to the county board for final approval in December, three of those members reversed their opinions.

This confused the full county board, which did not have a clear direction as to whether to approve it or not. The board tabled the issue to let Corporation Counsel Sean Donohue figure out what was allowed under statute.

Donohue came back with several options, including returning it to the RPC for a more clear directive. The supervisors opted to reject the zoning change, with a strong recommendation that the six-month waiting period be waived if the town decided to take another shot. 

The rejection passed, 18-1, with Supervisors Ken Fisher and Roy Englebert absent, and Supervisor Walter “Bud” Kalms casting the dissenting vote. Kalms represents Liberty Grove and is also the town’s administrator. He said after the meeting that the town would decide how to proceed.

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