Property owners sue supervisors over housing development denial

GRUNDY COUNTY- The owners of a property in rural northeastern Grundy County between Dike and New Hartford have filed a lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors alleging that it did not have a proper basis for denying an application to build a multi-unit housing development there.

James and Candice Fettkether have petitioned the supervisors twice in the last three years to allow the construction of the project and been denied on split votes each time. In 2018, the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission gave its blessing before the Supervisors overruled the decision on a 3-2 vote, and in 2020, P and Z rejected the proposal before the Supervisors upheld that vote by a margin of 4-1, with Jim Ross as the lone dissenter. Harlyn Riekena, who left the Board of Supervisors at the end of 2018, voted in favor of the project, while his replacement, Heidi Nederhoff, opposed it.

According to their attorney, Louis Hockenberg, they are simply seeking a reversal of the board’s decision and permission to move forward with the development, which has been controversial among residents of that area.

“We hope they’ll change this decision. We don’t agree with the method by which they came to their conclusion,” Hockenburg said. “We hope it’ll get resolved before going to trial.”

The five-page complaint, which was filed on September 22, alleges that the Fettkethers had requested tabling the county’s August 24 public hearing until a Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) could be completed, but they were told by County Zoning Administrator Carie Steinbron that such a program did not exist in Grundy County.

It goes on to charge that the supervisors denied the Fettkethers, who did not attend the August 24 hearing, due process because they did not receive adequate notice, and only opponents of the project were heard during the hearing. The complaint also contends that the development would fall within the county’s stated goals of adding 200-300 homes in conjunction with a recently completed housing needs assessment.

When reached for comment on Tuesday, Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Barb Smith told The Grundy Register that it was the first she had heard of the lawsuit.

Echoing statements she made during previous public hearings, Smith said that the county’s development plans should be focused on hard surface roads and within incorporated areas of the county (the property on V Avenue is situated on a gravel road).

The county’s attorneys have not yet filed a response, and no trial or hearing dates have been set.