Amid annexation dispute, La Crescent Township puts county in charge of zoning

Houston County is about to have one less level of government.

La Crescent’s town board voted to give the county zoning power over the township, following the announced retirement of township zoning official Larry Hafner.

The board made the decision in a quick meeting Monday, following a public hearing conducted by the township planning commission.

“It’s so much more complex than what you can do to keep up with building codes, hydro-geology, water runoffs,” Wayne Oliver, chair commissioner, said. “There’s just a lot more to it today than there was 40 years ago when it started.”

Some citizens attending the hearing argued that that giving up zoning by the township will reduce local control over annexations and private companies.

The board tried to avoid those discussion and other controversies, before voting to make Houston County the zoning authority for the township.

Oliver says the timing of the change was coincidental to the announcement of a housing development outside La Crescent, which will lead to annexation of many township homes near County Rd. 6 to the city of La Crescent.

Critics of the zoning change argued that the change is being rushed, without much discussion.