From: Mayor – Dallas Lowdermilk Councilors – Brad Owen, Jesse Ouellette, Ivan Englesman, Dan Fischl
RE: Heavy duty repair shop operating in a residential area
Dear residents and taxpayers,
We, your council, wanted to take this opportunity to clarify some of the confusion, rumors, and information circulating about what has occurred regarding the shop and business operating in a residential area.
The first formal notification received at the village office about a business operating occurred in June of 2021. There was a complaint of excessive noise and truck traffic in the area. This was the first we were made aware of a potential problem. At that meeting council decided that additional investigation was required to understand what was happening at the location (due diligence) and what our next actions should be. During that time the owner of the property requested a special meeting with council which was granted. The owner did state that heavy trucks and trailers were being repaired from that location for sale, thus operating as a business.
Because we had only received a noise complaint, it was not understood how disruptive the shop had become to the area. Based on the noise complaint the owner was instructed to follow the existing village noise bylaw and limit hours of noise. At this meeting the council decided to investigate the rezoning process to convert this lot to industrial use. The purpose of this was not to force the business on the village residents, but to allow the zoning bylaw process to operate. Part of the process is to advertise the rezoning request which allows residents to officially protest the request. We apologize for not making this process clear earlier and not making our intentions understood.