Register
n r u b h s Wa unty Co
Recount complete
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 Vol. 121, No. 38 • Shell Lake, Wisconsin
www.wcregister.net
I NS ID E
State music festival See page 13
75¢
Peanut
by Jessica Beecroft WASHBURN COUNTY – According to Lynn Hoeppner, Washburn County clerk, the recount of votes cast by county voters in the state Supreme Court race is complete. “It was a wash” said Hoeppner, “No increase for either candidate in the Supreme Court race was awarded. Each candidate has lost two votes, so it stays the same.” When the county has a recount, the municipalities start turning to absentee ballots. The recount cost the county $2,500. According to Hoeppner, “When the county does a recount, as required by the state statute, the county starts with a draw-down where they start going through the absentee ballots. When there is a blank ballot, those come out first from the draw.” In the case of Washburn County, five ballots had to be drawn out. One of the ballots was blank, so a total of four other ballots had to be taken out of the (Supreme Court absentee ballot) votes by random. The ballots are put into a bag and drawn. “The sad thing is, it’s not necessarily the vote they cast that is taken out," Hoeppner said. The person that perhaps didn’t sign, for instance, is not a legal ballot, but there is no way for them to know how the absentee ballot was cast at this point and that is why they are randomly drawn out from a bag of absentee ballots.
Washburn County
Honor Society i n d u c ti o n See page 23
SPORTS Pages 11, 14 & 15
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No, Ella Folstad was not eaten by an M&M. She has taken refuge in an M&M display. — Photo by Larry Samson
Citizens pressure county to take action on zoning issue
Private home advertised as weekly rental violates residential zoning law, say neighbors
by Jessica Beecroft LONG LAKE – The owner of a home listed on the Internet as a weekly rental property is in violation of the law as the property it is located on is currently zoned residential, not commercial, say adjoining property owners. Kevin Von Feldt lives right next door to the home that is a three-bedroom, two-bath cabin being used solely as a rental property for as little as three days per stay, he says. He says it’s not a home being rented out for long term, but one being advertised as a vacation rental. The homeowners, he notes, do not live there. Long Bear Addition is a subdivision on Long Lake that was established approximately 50 years ago. It’s zoned rural residential, meaning property there should be used for residential use only and not for business use. The property in question is advertised as “Big Bear on Little Bear Road” (www.vrbo.com/324869). The listing states it can accommodate as many as 14 people.
The home shown in the middle is being used as a resort, right next door to family residences. — Photo by Jessica Beecroft
Many of the property owners in the neighborhood have attempted to get county officials to enforce the zoning laws, but apparently to no avail. A petition is now being circulated to ask the county zoning board to investigate the situation and enforce the current laws. Legal action against the county is also being discussed. Zoning Administrator Web Macomber submitted both a statement and a letter (see page 4) to the Register, stating that the county’s zoning committee - his “boss” has never interpreted ordinance language to find that the county “should be involved in the rental home business.” “It’s a shame when things like this happen,” Macomber said. “One person finds out something, gets half of the facts and the misinformation spreads. Soon it becomes a feeding frenzy and opinions can never be changed. The ordinance and relevant inter-
pretations are in place, and I can’t arbitrarily just ‘decide’ to change the way we look at rental properties. If I did that, the frenzy would be a lot bigger than this one.” Macomber said the rental issue will be revisited when the county amends the zoning code. He gave no date as to when that will occur.
Demands made of county Von Feldt has submitted a letter on behalf of himself and 14 other property owners on the same street demanding that the county: 1. Issue a cease and desist order based on the ongoing advertisments at www.vrbo.com; 2. Seek injunctive relief prohibiting the property owners from advertising their resort, “Big Bear on Little Bear”;
See Zoning, page 3
“ O n th e s h o re s o f be a uti f ul S he l l L a k e” • wcregister.net