The Owen Planning Committee met on Wednesday, October 15 to discuss two items. Chairperson Ray Kilty turned the meeting over to city clerk Tracy Rau as the items concerned his business.

The first item was the potential rezoning of Kilty’s property on 3rd Street to allow for living quarters on the front of the storage building he is currently erecting. Kilty said he already talked to the state and knows what they will require. The property is currently zoned B-2 Highway Commercial. Zoning Administrator Carter Sapinski had checked into it and said that all uses in a B-2 District are conditional and require a public hearing and a vote of the city council. He didn’t feel the property needed to be rezoned. Kilty said a 25’ setback is required. He is only adding on 20’ and has 56’ feet between what he is currently building and the street. He will have to have a firewall between the storage facility and the living quarters and it will require state approved plans. The committee voted to forward this to the council for a public hearing.

The second item was in regard to the vacant lot at 3rd Street and Oak Street. It doesn’t meet the lot size required by the city, but Kilty would like to purchase it and put a house on it. The house wouldn’t be able to meet the setback requirements. Because of the size of the lot, the doors and garage would have to face 3rd Street. The zoning ordinance requires a size of at least 24’ by 36’ for the house and it can’t use more than 40% of the lot. The required lot width is 75’. This property is only 50’ wide. Committee member Kyle Westaby said the lot is worthless for building if they don’t do a variance. The city isn’t getting taxes on it now and housing is needed. Kilty said he couldn’t make the house much smaller unless he went to a one bedroom. The committee voted to approve the variance. Kilty is offering $2,500 for the lot. The house will be slab on grade. The committee voted to send the purchase to the council for final approval. They suggested asking the assessor what they thought the land was worth in regard to a sale price.