Ordinance 816, Rezone Request for 608 E 6th St, passed the second reading during the Dell Rapids City Council meeting held on Tuesday, February 17th. The request is to have the property owned by Paul Roemen to be rezoned from an R2 Two Family Attached Residential to a B2 General Business District with the intent to sell the property to an interested buyer. After the sale of the property, the intended use for the property is for a contractor’s shop.
Chris Gross, a Dell Rapids resident that lives in the neighborhood, was in opposition of the rezone request and said, “I’m opposed to it. We take great pride in our home. We restored it. We have received an award from the historical society for the preservation of it. It to me is encroaching on a historical neighborhood in town that should be respected and kept in tact as such.”
After hearing other residents speak for and against the rezone request, the council held more discussion on the matter. Councilman Mark Crisp asked Councilman Chad Andrews why he was not in favor of this rezone. “Chad, let me ask you this…you were the only one on this board supporting Argonne doing what they were doing. Now you are sitting here opposing….same thing. You were the only one supporting that at that time, so what’s changed your mind?”
Andrews responded, “They were going to run a business out of a stone structure that they could afford to maintain…one person. They weren’t going to build a shop. They weren’t going to store equipment on it. I look at it as I would have loved to live next door to that because I know they were going to maintain it. Here…who knows what could happen. We rezone this lot, like he said, anybody could buy it after they want it and do whatever the heck they want with it as a B2, and there’s no stopping them.”
Crisp made the motion to pass the second reading of the rezone request. Councilman Paul Miles seconded the motion. The rezone request passed by a 5-3 vote. Councilmen Andrews, David Sommerfeld, and Craig Lauritzen voted no.
Even though the council passed the second reading, residents still have an opportunity to stop the rezone from happening. If 40% of the property owners within 250 feet of the property are opposed, they can bring a protest to the council.