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HARTINGTON — Building permits, zoning and variances were the big topic at Monday’s Hartington City Council meeting The Council considered a resolution to approve a final plat of Lots 7A and 7B, Block 49, in the original town of Hartington. The replat had previously been denied by the city Planning Commission.
After a lengthy discussion among themselves and with Calvin and James Christensen, who made the replat request, the council decided to deny the replat.
A replat just doesn't fit with city code, Councilman Chris Bartling said.
'I looked at this every way I could to try to find a way to make it work. It just doesn't work. The lot is just too small to be split in half,' he said.
City Attorney Nikki Brandt suggested they look at other options to divide the property because going through the city simply wasn’t a viable option.
'The city is not the place to get this done,' she said. 'City ordinances won't allow for this. You have other options open to you, but the city can’t legally split that property.”
She suggested they create a deed as tenants in common, or form a condo association.
'Your next step should be to talk to a bank and to an attorney,' she said.
Mayor Mark Becker said the city simply cannot be involved.
'You guys need to form some sort of an agreement between the two of you. What you are proposing just doesn't fit into our regs,' he said.
Kim Hively also appeared before the board to discuss the permitting and construction of warehouses and shouses, a combination workshop and house.
Hively expressed her concerns about the construction of what she called a warehouse which is being built in her east Hartington residential neighborhood.
When the building permit on this was approved it was approved as a shouse, but it is clearly a warehouse, she said.
'Why are we allowing these huge buildings to be built in a residential area,' she asked the council. 'This building does not blend in with the neighborhood. It's a warehouse, not a house. It doesn't fit in the neighborhood. It's not residential.'
Allowing for this type of structure in a residential area also hurts property values, she said.
She asked the Council to consider revising or updating its regulations so even more of these shouses are not built in a residential area.
“Have you looked at what a shouse looks like? It looks like a warehouse. It’s got two huge doors on one side. This thing just doesn’t fit in a residential neighborhood. If you’ve got nice homes, you don’t want that next to your house,” she said.
Council members talked about the current building permit system and noted building permits might need to have more detail on them before they get approved.
“Maybe we should take a look at toughening up our codes,” Councilman Colin Kathol said. “At least I think we need to expect people to give us a good plan, so we know what they are building.”
Becker said he agreed. The city should be requiring more information before granting a building permit.
Hively said since “the times have changed so much maybe the city should think about updating their regulations.”
Chris Miller, who was in the audience, said the city already has the ability to better control building permits.
“You’ve got the mechanism in front of you. All you have to do is ask the right questions and require the right information. The mechanism is in place — you just need to follow it.”
Also Monday, the council approved a resolution for Hartington-Newcastle Public School and Cedar Catholic High School to hold a joint Homecoming Parade which will cross Highway 84 on Sept. 19.
The Council accepted the resignation of long-time Park Board member Sandy Becker.
The council also approved building permits for Nick and Leigh Haselhorst for the construction of a new home in the 220 Addition.
A building permit was also approved for Travis Folkers, who wants to build a 20x22 foot pergola at his 408 N. Cedar home.
Sign permits for Hartington Truck and Auto and the Hartington Senior Center were also approved.
The council also received the Cedar County Sheriff’s report of hours logged for Hartington in July. The report indicated law enforcement officers dedicated 497 hours of law enforcement here in July. One arrest was made in July and one citation was written. There were also two written traffic stop warnings and three verbal warnings. Two burglary reports were investigated and three disturbance reports.
The next Hartington City Council meeting will be Sept. 11 at 5 p.m. The annual budget hearing is also expected to be held that night.
