Recent events concerning landowners rights have lead (sic) me to believe that good old common sense have left (sic) the building.
I ask you? “Who should have the right to make privately owned property decisions?”
Is there such a thing anymore or is it just an allusion (sic)? Actually I think it goes something like this: You can do what you want on your property as long as you; don’t cause harm to someone else by your endeavors, have the county’s permission, have paid the fees involved, as long as your neighbors approve, and let’s not forget those who may drive by your property and deem you worthy or unworthy to continue with your present activities.
Local government officials seem to be saying, “We need to make more and more zoning regulations for these land owners because they are not smart enough to manage their properties without our “Expert help”. (sic)
It seems irrelevant to county officials that land owners have made a life decision to purchase property in Houston County, become community members, and pay taxes here. Shouldn’t they be trying to help those motivated individuals rather than make it more difficult and expensive to comply with the increased regulations of property ownership and usage?
The recent document presented to the commissioners by the land owners group with the intent to sue describes multiple examples of how the county exercised ownership interest in deciding how privately owned property could be used. At least 27 times, the county prevented a landowner from building a second home on privately owned parcels of less than 40 acres. In other examples, the county forced land owners to build in a location other than where the land owner wanted to build. If you are interested in a copy by email please send a request to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Another good resource to become informed on this issue can be found at www.renewamerica.com/columns/lamb/100502.
Personally I feel it is unnecessary to escalate this into a lawsuit at this time. The landowner’s citizen group, with some ground rules established based on property rights mandated by the federal and state government would like to work out a resolution, which at this point the commissioners are unwilling to do.
Come on, Jack Miller 1st District, Larry Connery 2nd District, Robert Augedahl 3rd District, David Corcoran 4th District and Tom Bjerke 5th District, let’s sit down and get this done. The landowners are asking about simple changes, easy fixes, and fair treatment. Let’s work together to roll back some of these zoning regulations that have become too invasive.
It’s the right thing to do.
Houston County Landowner
Larie Wohlert
Spring Grove, Minn.
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