Mike Wright, the owner of Wright’s Construction and Development Incorporated, asked the council to approve the rezoning recommendation of the property at 506 W. Main St. so he could utilize it to build storage units, which proved to be a controversial request.

City council member Tyler Sawyer raised concerns about how rezoning the property would benefit the citizens of the community. Sawyer said on average, there were 15 square feet of storage per person in Le Grand, approximately two and a half times the national average of 5.9 square feet.

If the property is successfully rezoned, roughly 10,000 additional square feet of storage would be added, resulting in about 25 square feet of storage per citizen, which is 4.3 times the national average.

“Why I ran those numbers is I think we’re being asked to consider an exception to our current zoning plan. Given the number of complaints I’ve heard from citizens, I thought we should think about if the town needs more storage,” Sawyer said.

Le Grand city council members Troy Underhill, Todd Parrish and Don Weitzell discuss the potential rezoning of a property on West Main Street during Tuesday night’s meeting.

In response, Wright said he wouldn’t be investing in the property to use it for storage units if he didn’t see the need. Another one of his storage unit properties is currently at capacity, according to Wright. Sawyer wasn’t necessarily worried solely about whether or not they would be utilized, however.

“They may fill, but one of the main concerns I’ve heard from citizens is not that they won’t fill, but that they will be bringing in (people) from other surrounding areas. It aesthetically may not be pleasing, and we have a lot of storage units along Main Street already and throughout the town,” Sawyer said. “Maybe other towns don’t have sufficient storage and maybe the storage facilities should be in those markets instead.”

Aside from just the numbers, Sawyer was not enthusiastic about making an exception to a zoning rule if the citizens of Le Grand would not necessarily be benefiting. Another council member, Troy Underhill, said the numbers weren’t really a concern given that Wright would be taking the monetary risk and not the city council.

In response to the question of aesthetics, Wright’s wife, Pat, said the derelict building being torn down would be no more aesthetically pleasing than the storage units.

Council member Todd Parrish also raised the issue of lost sewage revenue, citing Le Grand’s upcoming sewer project.

“My main concern here is that we’re surrendering residential lots to commercial development, when we’re beginning the undertaking of a $2 million sewer project that is being funded by sewer revenue and is directly tied to that for funding,” Parrish said. “If we give up a lot, we lose the potential of a water and sewer customer or customers on that size lot.”

Those in attendance weren’t convinced this would be a major issue given that the building currently on the lot is in disrepair, and Underhill said the main area used for commercial lots was along Main Street. If lots are not opened on Main Street for commercial usage, Underhill felt there were few other property options for commercial structures.

“Main Street is about the only place you’ll be able to put anything commercial,” he said. “I don’t think that people would (want commercial properties elsewhere).”

After several additional minutes of debate between council members, Wright and several citizens in attendance, a motion was made to accept the recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone the property. It passed by a 3-2 tally with Underhill, Don Weitzell and Judy Cecak voting in favor of rezoning, and Sawyer and Parrish opposing it.

This vote does not officially rezone the property, as an additional public hearing will be held on April 12 at 7 p.m. before it is made official.

In addition to that discussion, Wright had lodged a citizen complaint against the council over events surrounding the initial public hearing regarding the rezoning of the property on Feb. 17. According to Wright, two council members, Weitzell and Parrish, approached two of the neighboring property owners prior to the initial vote about the property on Feb. 21 and asked “very inappropriate, maligning and demoralizing questions” about Wright and his company.

“The first question was ‘Did Mr. Wright in any way bribe you or offer you money before or after the closing?’ Secondly, ‘Did Mr. Wright in anyway strongarm you?’ Third, ‘Did Mr. Wright verbally or physically threaten you to sign the papers?'” Wright said. “Now keep in mind, zoning hadn’t even voted on it yet.”

The neighbors who were questioned contacted Wright afterward and brought it to his attention. Weitzell said he was merely checking to make sure the property owners were not coerced in any way, and he and Parrish felt they were well within their rights to ask those questions. Weitzell said, however, that he didn’t remember asking those specific questions.

“Am I not supposed to, as a councilman, go talk to my constituents?” Weitzell asked.

The discussion became heated, and eventually, after about 10 minutes, Mayor Shane Sweitzer requested that the council move on from the topic. Wright filed the complaint with the Iowa Public Information Board, who will review the complaint at a later date.

In other business, the council:

• Approved unanimously alcohol permits for Dollar General.

• Approved a hiring recommendation to fill the Clerk Treasurer position

• Heard committee reports.

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Contact Susanna Meyer at 641-753-6611 or

smeyer@timesrepublican.com.