Supervisors approve zoning, ordinance goes into effect July 1

By Mary Zielinski
Seven months of discussion and debate ended Tuesday when the Washington County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to adopt the hotly contested county zoning ordinance. The measure goes into effect July 1. Voting yes were Chairman James Miksch, Wesley Rich and Adam Mangold. Voting no were Steve Davis and Jim Rosien, both of whom also told the group they will seek re-election in November.
Before the end of the meeting, several of the more than 50 attending the session started talking about filing a petition to have the measure rescinded, as well as petitions of recall for the supervisors. There also were comments about a petition for a referendum to return to three supervisors.
Prior to the votes, which was the third reading and passage for the ordinance, the board approved some amendments to the document’s wording, items that, as acting county engineer Jacob Thorius noted, amounted to “corrections of typos and clarifications.”
However, a motion by Mangold to “strike all of Article 8 (sign regulations)” died for lack of a second. After some further discussion, including Thoris noting that when the county passed the subdivision oridiance, they had been some problems. He noted that much of them related to how the administrator interpreted the ordinance, and that changes were made, indicating that probable changes will come to the zoning ordinance as well.
Both he and the board stressed that residents would have access to a zoning board of adjustment for appeals and variances, and beyond that, district court. Prior to the vote, Miksch asked that any comments from the board be made at the time of voting.
Mangold, who went first, read a prepared statement indicating he had talked to all sides and initially was planning to vote no, that he thought preservation of land and property rights would be best served without more legislation. However, referring to John Adams statement about the land being a sacred trust, and that the “free market is not so free,” Mangold said he had changed his mind, that the ordinance is the best way to protect property values. So, he said, he vote yes.
Rich, in shorter statement, aid he his yes was voting for the future, to protect property values and to promote economic development.
Rosien, noting he had prepared no statement said “I will vote form the heart,” that he had talked with all his constitutes and noted a supervisors represented all the county. He stressed I am not for large government, that the ordinance creates yet another department, and he voted no.
Davis, stressing he had read and re-read the ordinance,had talked to both sides and admitted there were section s of the ordinance, “I still don’t understand,” said the best for his constituents was to vote no.
Miksch detailed that the ordinance is part of having a vision for the county, that it came from the earlier Comprehensive Plan, that a special commission was formed to create it, and that it protects the rights of existing property owners. Even more it will provide for orderly development around the towns. Noting it is an “emotional issue,” he asked the board members be judged not on this one vote but on “our overall job performance.” He voted yes, something he had long indicated he would do.
Just prior to the voting, Sheriff Jerry Dunbar asked that those in attendance be respectful of the board and the voting process, that he did not want to ask anyone to leave.
In other business, the board Tuesday:

• approved a beer and wine liquor license for the Kalona Golf Club on a 3-2 vote (Davis and Rosien, no; Miksch, Rich and Mangold yes) after learning that the club had two violations within a year, and was facing a 30-day suspension. However, Dunbar said it had since met all state compliance regulations and he did not oppose the license, noting the violations involved two separate employees; and
• approved personnel changes for the sheriff’s department.