Housing, yes. Ag land, no.

That's the simplistic view after a recent Mower County Board of Commissioners' decision.

The commissioners approved on Monday a conditional use permit for the platting of a residential development in Grand Meadow Township.

What appears on the surface to be another victory for urban sprawl becomes more complicated upon closer examination.

The demand for housing -- much of it coming from the city of Rochester -- is making northeast Mower County attractive to developers.

At Monday's meeting, the commissioners scrutinized the latest request to turn ag land into residential lots.

Ray Tucker, in whose second commissioner district that proposed residential development is located, led the questioning.

Tucker also made the motion to grant the permit, but only after adding a condition that will help swine and other farmers near the site to protect their farms if or when the lots are sold to non-farming families.

David Hillier, 3rd commissioner district and himself a swine farmer, seconded Tucker's motion.

The decision of the county commissioners was unanimous.

Two weeks ago, the Mower County Planning Commission -- with only five of seven members present -- voted by a 3-2 margin to recommend approval of the CUP request.

Randy Queensland, a Grand Meadow real estate developer, attended Monday's county board meeting for Kenneth and Pearl Jacobson, a son and mother who want to develop a maximum of 23 one-acre or larger lots for single-family residential housing in Grand Meadow Township, about a mile outside the city of Grand Meadow and along Mower County Highway 8.

Darryl W. Franklin, county planning director and zoning administrator, told how the planning commission added recommendations for conditions to have an access road constructed to county specifications and to require a frontage road for access to the township road leading to Highway 8.

Franklin also said the developer must submit an Environmental Assessment Worksheet with input from 25 to 30 agencies and return it to the county commissioners.

Franklin also noted that one of the conditions on the CUP calls for a 1,000-foot setback from a feedlot.

Queensland -- in the absence of either Jacobsen -- submitted a conceptual plan of the collection of 20 houses. He also brought with him more information about the Crop Equivalency Rating for the ag land. A portion of the acres is rated with a higher CER, while the acres where the houses will be built have a lower CER rating.

Paul Snyder, chairman of the Grand Meadow Township Board, said the board members had studied the request before making their decision.

"The board is in favor of this plan," Snyder said. "We think it is better to have 20 or more houses in one spot in the countryside, than all them houses in 20 or more different sites. That would take even more ag land out of production."

Queensland told the county planning commission members both he and the Jacobsens agonized over the decision to develop marginal ag land into single-family housing lots.

"We think this site works well with the demand we're seeing for new housing in eastern Mower County," Queensland said.

The northeast corner of Mower County was designated five years ago by a citizens task force as a likely area for residential housing development. Last year, a revision of the county's comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance also singled out the area for residential housing development.

Terry Jones, a swine farmer, who lives and farms near the proposed development, first praised Mower County for its feedlot ordinance and regulations.

"The rules help me and those who live in the country," Jones said.

Then, Jones wondered aloud if that size of residential development in the middle of ag land "will encroach on other feedlots?"

He described how he complies with feedlot regulations by adhering to a manure-management plan. Jones suggested full disclosure of the existence of manure management plans by himself and another swine farmer nearby should be made to the prospective residential lot owners.

Jones said, "We welcome people to live in the country," but the country is where farming is done.

He asked if the 1,000-foot setback rule for feedlots from residences would remain after the residential development is constructed. Tucker assured him it would as well as the one-mile setback from a community.

Franklin qualified Tucker's assertion the setback rules would remain by saying the "current rules" could be changed by new county officials or direction from the state of Minnesota.

Jones asked, "Do the current commissioners feel that same way about the regulations as I do about feedlots?"

"I'm not opposed to one individual development such as this," Jones said, "but does a development like this encroach on a feedlot that is already there and meeting all existing requirements?"

Jones said he wished "there is some way to make non-farm dwellers understand they can't sue when feedlots are there and legal."

"It is not my goal to oppose this request today, but I hope that someday in the future when I am applying manure and I get a call from my new neighbors about the odor, if I call up the county commissioners and say to them 'Do you remember that meeting we had, that you will remember what you told me today?'" he said.

When Tucker took over the questioning, he wanted to know who will maintain the access road from the homes to the township road and Snyder said it would have to be the developer.

"We don't want to get involved in that," Snyder said.

Queensland agreed the development's street/road maintenance would be up to the developers.

Franklin suggested the county commissioners consider adding a condition applied to a similar request of Thomas Vavra in Udolpho Township. That condition required the developer to disclose to prospective lot-buyers the existence of a feedlot in compliance with regulations near the residential development.

Tucker accepted the suggestion and then added one of his own: a light at the entrance to the development from the township road to help traffic safety concerns.

When the discussion ended, Tucker made his motion to grant the CUP with the 20 conditions, including the newest ones and it was approved.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com