County begins process of re-codifying zoning laws

A group of Grundy County officials met with Brian Schoon of the Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments (INRCOG) at the courthouse on Monday afternoon to begin the process of re-codifying the county’s zoning laws for the first time since 2009.
           
Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Barb Smith, Jane Katzer of the county planning and zoning commission, and Marcia Dudden and David Schmidt of the board of adjustment were all in attendance at the meeting with Schoon, who serves as the director of development for INRCOG, an organization that provides services for six Iowa counties (Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Chickasaw and Grundy).
           
The county’s ordinances on wind energy production were on the docket as they have been discussed frequently over the past few months after the Board of Supervisors overruled the planning and zoning commission to allow the construction of a second wind farm in western Grundy County near the Ivester Church of the Brethren. Schoon noted that when counties first began updating zoning laws to allow wind farms in 2005, people were generally supportive, and backlash was minimal. That changed, however, as developers came in and sought to build turbines on agricultural land. 
 
Read more in this week's Grundy Register.