Emmalie and Joe Brudzinski moved in May from St. Paul to a 7.72 acre plot of land in South Haven.
"The primary reason why we decided to buy in this rural area was to have farm animals," she told the South Haven City Council Oct. 3.
However, they discovered that they are forbidden from doing so by the city’s ordinance, prompting the young couple to approach the council to try and change their situation.
That prompted considerable discussion by council members and even some changing of sides before council member Norm Bodeker made a motion to let the ordinance stand.
"Ordinances were for the most part made to be followed," he said.
Council member Dustin Nicka agreed, but Misty Bayerl and Karleen Baker opposed the motion. The deadlocked vote left it up to Mayor Dave Kothe, who took several minutes, filled with more questions and discussion, before weighing in.
"I’m going to kick the can down the road and bring it to a city consensus and an opportunity for the city to speak to it. That will at least give us time," he said. "It is a tough request, and the best thing is to give it to the voters and hear from them."
The council set a public inquiry on the topic for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the city hall community room to hear from residents. No action will be taken at that special meeting.
City rules trump county’s
The Brudzinskis said they checked with Wright County records on whether they would be allowed to have animals before buying the property, they did not check with the city, and its ordinances take precedence.
"We didn’t find out that wasn’t allowed until we closed," Emmalie said. "Looking at county zonings, it looked like anywhere you go you need four acres to have farm animals."
They thought by having nearly twice that much, there wouldn’t be a problem.
"I feel bad for you, not knowing you had to talk to the city and not the county," said South Haven’s clerk-treasurer, Carol Banken.
She explained that the property is taxed for residential within highway commercial zoning. Nowhere in the highway commercial ordinances does it allow for farm animals, with the exception of an animal clinic, she said.
Emmalie Brudzinski said that considering the acreage and land usage she did not see that being more disruptive than having a nightclub on that land, which its zoning would allow.
Emmalie said their house sits on the far east side of their property and doesn’t touch any other residential properties. She said they have 62 acres of agriculture crop land behind their property and the highway to the front, and the land to the west has cattle on it.
South Haven’s zoning ordinances that were passed approximately 15 years ago forbid allowing farm animals in the city limits, unless animals were already on land zoned agricultural.
There has never been a hobby farm within the South Haven city limits. Emmalie, who said they want to own at least two horses and possibly other animals later on, asked why there couldn’t be one.
"The fact that it’s so close to the highway gives me some concern that I wouldn’t have otherwise," Kothe said. "Highway 55 is a major thoroughfare and if they would ever get spooked, they would be awfully close to endangering themselves and transportation."
Banken, who owns a horse but does not live within the city, said the horse has broken loose and gotten out three times, so it can happen.
"If we start going down this road, what else is going to start popping up?" Bodeker asked. "We’ve had pot-bellied pigs, we’ve had goats, and what’s it going to turn into down the road?"
South Haven does allow residents to own chickens, providing they meet several restrictions, such as a maximum of 10, and they must be enclosed and on a minimum of one acre.
"When we drafted the ordinances, there were probably three citizens, including me, who had chickens," Bodeker said. The more animals the city allows, the more land could turn into farms.
"Is that a bad thing? It could be, in the city," he said.
"It’s a cool idea," Baker said of what the Brudzinskis want to do. "But once you allow one thing then each person in the city can push and push. If you go down that tunnel of just allowing, allowing, and then if we wanted to expand South Haven, how do we expand around that?"
Emmalie suggested that an easy way to avoid setting precedence would be to stipulate that animals could only be allowed on more than seven acres, since she said they own the largest residential plot of land within the city limits.
"Part of the reason why I live in the city and not on a farm is because I don’t like the smell of farms," Baker said.
The Brudzinskis were told that some people believe farm animals belong in the country and not a city.
"We’re from St. Paul," Emmalie said, "and to us, this is country."
In other items
The council also:
■ Approved by a unanimous vote approving a bid from Chad Stenson of DLS Landscaping of South Haven for its snow removal and sanding contract.
Todd Rohloff of Rohloff Bobcat Service of Dassel had been doing the work and submitted the other bid, at the same rate as the prior year. Banken said they had done a good job for several years for South Haven, but the council opted to give its work to the local bidder.
■ Unanimously approved paying Ernest Kadlec $300 to resolve a years-old dispute involving snow plowing, in order to receive permission to remove trees on Church Street that are obstructing drivers’ views.
Nicka told the council he spoke with Kadlec, who agreed that the trees should come down. But Kadlec blamed the city for when snow was plowed into his field, and submitted a bill which the City Council denied since it did not believe its plows had done it.
"Someone did him wrong. He and his wife picked rocks for three days," Nicka said. "I’ve picked rocks and that’s not fun. That’s more like punishment."
Bayerl moved to hire a contractor to remove the trees, and Nicka was given the task of finding one to do the work.
■ Voiced concern with trees growing in various parts of the city to the extent where branches hang out over the street and obstruct fire trucks and tall vehicles.
Public Works Director Dan Dawson has been trimming trees that obstruct signs, but these trees are too high to trim without the proper equipment.
Bodeker recommended setting aside money in the budget each year to hire a tree service and spreading the work out over multiple years.
"The fire department has to be able to get through," he said.
Kothe directed him to bring up the subject again when the council works on its 2018 budget.
■ Approved a request from Fire Chief Kenneth (Oscar) Laney for $3,330 to order six pagers and two extra chargers.
Four of the pagers are for people who have applied to join the fire department, and two are to replace lost pagers.
"We have four real good applicants, and I would like to take all four on," Laney said.
He suggested starting them on emergency rescue training, since that is a majority of the calls, and it could be accomplished with 24 hours of classroom training and 16 hours online. The fire training is much more extensive and would take a considerably longer time to complete.
■ Has not made progress on repairs to the carrier loading area and parking lost at the post office. The postal service rents the building from the city.
At its last meeting, the council approved fixing the problem areas in the pavement. But Nicka reported that he has been unable to find anyone willing or able to do the work.
Kothe and Bayerl each said they may know someone who can do the work, and they would check on it. Nicka said if the work cannot be done yet this year, the city might have to patch the blacktop to get through the winter.
■ Was informed by Dawson that two new picnic tables have been received and put out for use. The community room was used seven times and rented five times for the month. And work had been completed on six of eight water meters that had needed repairs.
Dawson was thanked for the volunteer hours he had put in sandblasting fire hydrants.
■ Scheduled a second brainstorming workshop for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, to hear from business owners and residents about future planing and beautification of South Haven.
■ Elected to move its November meeting to 8 p.m. Nov. 7. That is an election day in some places in Minnesota, but not South Haven. However, state law forbids any governmental meetings to be held until polls are closed.