MONROE—Members of Monroe’s City Council were met with applause after voting in favor of a motion to direct the city attorney to draft a resolution in favor of approving a zoning map amendment for the Rural Fire District’s W. 8th Street firehouse. A final decision will be made by the council at the April 19 meeting.

Before the vote was a public hearing in which numerous members of the public spoke in favor of the amendment.

The building is owned by the Towns of Clarno and Monroe, which make up the Rural Fire District. It was purchased at the end of 2020 to allow the towns a space to operate as a fire station, though it was not properly zoned to do so.

Currently, the RFD’s building is zoned as a Suburban Mixed Use (SMU) property, which, per the city’s code, does not allow indoor institutional as a conditional use.

The towns are requesting that the property be changed to Neighborhood Mixed Use instead, which would allow indoor institutional as a conditional use as long as the towns were granted permission for such.

To get a conditional use permit, the RFD would have to go only through the Plan Commission. Approval of the full council is not needed.

The City Plan Commission met March 10 and voted in favor of two petitions brought forward by the towns: the request for zoning change and a zoning ordinance text amendment application to allow indoor institutional land uses in the Suburban Mixed Use (SMU) zoning district.

“I think we can all agree that the rural fire district should have ensured that the property would be approved for this use prior to purchasing,” Alder Brooke Bauman said. “However, the city’s plan commission vetted this issue twice and both times agreed that this building is suitable for the Rural Fire District to operate out of. I respect these individuals and their opinions on this matter and feel that if we were to go against their vote after their unanimous vote at the last meeting, that we would be diminishing the importance of citizen appointed committees, boards and commissions and saying that these individuals’ professional opinions mean nothing to us.”

A March 11 memorandum from City Planning Consultant Michael A. Slavney states that “The City Planner has no objection to the proposed Zoning Map Amendment from the SMU zoning district to the NMU zoning district.” Later on, the memo states that “the proposed amendment is consistent with the comprehensive plan’s call for providing the full range of public services to the community.”

Because either one of the changes alone would allow the towns to operate out of the location as a fire station, they agreed conditionally to withdraw the request for a text amendment with the passing of the map amendment.

Negotiations between the City of Monroe and the Rural Fire District are nothing new and even the issue of the firehouse has been debated before the council for months. While residents of both the townships and the City of Monroe have expressed support for the RFD, others have found the request to be more of a convenience for the townships rather than a benefit for the city.

“When it comes down to it, doing this rezoning is in no way for the citizens of Monroe,” Alder Kelly Hermanson said. “There’s no benefit for the citizens of Monroe. There’s not a citizen of Monroe asking for it. Two other municipalities are asking us to do this to benefit them.

In January, the Common Council voted against a request from the towns to change the property from SMU to Institutional. Monroe’s City Plan Commission had unanimously passed the request at a meeting prior to the full council’s vote.

The request followed the RFD’s notification to the city that they would not be renewing a contract with the City of Monroe, nearly one year after the most recent long-term contract between the entities ended.

Discussions and disagreements have led to strong emotions on both sides.

“The members of the Monroe Rural Fire District and our department, we’re here not only to help the people in Monroe and Clarno Township, we’re here to help the people in our community,” RFD Fire Chief Nick Bartels said during the public hearing. “A fire district line or a school district line does not represent a divide between the community. Yes, we are here from Monroe and Clarno Townships, but we are also here to protect the citizens of Monroe and whoever calls us.”

Some members of the community have accused alderpersons who voted against the change in January of not protecting or caring about those who live beyond city lines, but council members have defended their votes on the basis of what is best for the City of Monroe.

“Our comprehensive plan, which we’ve spent countless hours and dollars on… received a bronze level award and now we’re just shooting a hole through it,” Alder Richard Thoman said. Thoman, along with alders Hermanson and Michael Boyce voted against the April 5 motion.

Slavney also addressed the city’s comprehensive plan in the March 11 memorandum.

“The Comprehensive Plan’s land use map shows no existing residential development near the subject property; however, the Plan does recommend that areas immediately to the west and southwest may be appropriate for residential neighborhood development. I believe the request for the NMU Zoning District could be considered consistent with the Comprehensive Plan if the Plan Commission and Common Council think the area to the west and southwest of the subject property may develop with residential uses in the future.”