TOWER— The city council here deadlocked on Monday over a proposed zoning change that would have added two parcels near Mill Point plat to the city’s harbor north zone district.

The council took up the issue at a special meeting after the city’s planning and zoning commission recommended the change in a meeting late last week.

The change would have added a C-shaped outlot from the original Mill Point plat and the 5.8-acre former city dump site, which has since been remediated, to the harbor north district. The district would allow a number of commercial uses, including restaurants and bars, recreational equipment rentals, hotels, or multi-family residential projects, such as condominiums.

Dave and Diane Rose had proposed the change in hopes of building a 27-unit RV park on the former outlot, which they recently purchased from the CathKot group. The outlot is currently zoned residential, which does not allow an RV park, but the facility would be permissible, with a conditional use permit, under harbor zoning. The former dump site is zoned commercial, which is considerably more permissive than the harbor zone district.

But the proposed zoning change drew strong opposition from residents of nearby Mill Point plat, who turned out in force at last week’s planning and zoning meeting and packed the city’s council chamber on Monday night. While the topic at hand was the zoning change, the opposition focused on the RV park proposal.

Mill Point residents argued that the proposal would increase traffic, noise, and pollution, disturbing their otherwise quiet residential neighborhood and driving down property values.

“I’m so disappointed that this is even being considered,” said Kathy Grochowski, a Mill Point resident. “This was supposed to be a quiet residential neighborhood and it’s not going to be that way if this is approved.”

Dan Broten, the lone planning and zoning commission member who opposed the zoning change last week, urged the council to heed the input from Mill Point residents. “When you have a public hearing, that’s when you’re supposed to listen to the public,” he said. “Ninety-five percent of the public spoke against this.”

Todd Horton said Mill Point residents aren’t opposed to the RV park, just the location. “We hope Mr. Rose can get his project built. We all favor more economic development, 100 percent,” he said. “But this would be totally disruptive to the people out there and to their plans,” he added. “We expected a quiet residential place.”

Among the most persistent opponents was City Councilor Joan Broten, a resident of Mill Point, who questioned the value of the development to people in Tower. “Where’s the respect for the people of Lake Avenue?” Broten asked. “This is not the appropriate place for this.”

Mayor Josh Carlson noted that approval of the zoning change was no guarantee that the RV park would ever be built. He said that the proposal still required a conditional use permit, which would require another public hearing, and that it would have to meet all required setbacks and environmental rules. City officials have stated privately that they have doubts that the proposal is viable under the rules already in place.

Carlson said he sympathized with the concerns of the people of Mill Point, but said the council is charged with considering all the taxpayers in town. He said an RV park would bring more people to town in the summer months, resulting in more business for local shops, restaurants and gas stations.

Councilor Lance Dougherty said he had talked to a number of Main Street business owners about the proposal and found much support.

Broten motioned to deny the zoning change, but her motion failed on a 2-2 vote. Councilor Bill Hiltunen, who had supported the change during last week’s planning and zoning meeting, joined Broten in support, while Carlson and Dougherty voted against. A motion by Dougherty to approve the change also went down on a 2-2 vote. A third motion, again by Dougherty, to refer the issue back to planning and zoning, also failed 2-2.

At that point, Hiltunen moved to table the issue until the council’s fifth member, Brad Mattila, is able to attend. Mattila was out of town during Monday’s meeting. Hiltunen’s motion passed on a 3-1 vote, with Broten voting no, which means the controversial topic could be back on the council’s agenda during their regular March meeting.

Other business

In other business at Monday’s special meeting, the council approved getting quotes on replacing the current kitchen stove at the city’s civic center. Clerk-Treasurer Linda Keith said only three of the six burners on the electric stove are currently working, which makes it difficult to cook for larger group events at the facility.