After two postponed votes on the controversial "Village at Young's Farm" proposal, the Dewey-Humboldt Town Council finally delivered its verdict: A 5 to 2 defeat for the 580 home plan that would have resided where Young's Farm is now.  As if that was not enough news for the day, Mayor Tom Hintze presented his resignation citing frustration over the resistance he was receiving to his efforts to move the town forward.

  In the weeks before the final vote, a whirlwind of activity built quite a local drama, much of it revolving around a 3/4 majority requirement of the town council.  Local statutes require a super-majority vote when 20% or more of the residents within 300 feet of a property applying for rezoning submit written protests to the town.  Citizens for a Rural Community visited many of these adjacent residents to inform them of this law and collected petitions from them against the project to present to the town management.

  Several days before the vote Roger Swenson, the town manager, reported that the 20% requirement had been fulfilled and that a super-majority would be necessary.  However, when the town council gathered on May 31st to vote, a new snag surfaced.  With two of the council members owning adjacent property, there were concerns that there may be a conflict of interest.  It was suggested that these two, Al Kuhns and Randy Savage, be recused and that the vote proceed with only 5 council members.  This issue boiled on through the evening and eventually led to a postponement of the vote until June 13 while the town attorney sorted it out (which he did the very next day, ruling that there was no conflict of interest).

  With the threat of defeat looming large in the face of a super-majority requirement, representatives for Monogram, claiming that residents had been poorly informed, set about to solicit retractions of their letters of protest.  They met with some success but their ongoing efforts lasted right up until May 13th when the vote was to occur.  Not only did they have last-minute retractions, but the town attorney also ruled that the state statute requiring the counting of adjacent land and owners within 150 feet of a rezoning would apply.  This, of course threw all calculations off and a final precentage of protesting neighbors was not available.  With the requirement of a super-majority in question, the vote was once again postponed.

  Citizens for a Rural Community got busy once again to be sure that neighbors of Young's Farm who had rescinded their protests had done so with full understanding and no coersion.  Some stood by their retractions but others re-submitted their protests to the town, joined by a few who decided that they too would oppose the 580 home development.

  June 20th found a weary town council and general public both seeking an end to the drama.  The town manager reported that the final count on the adjacency petitions totaled about 37% and that the super-majority would apply.  The vote was held and to the suprise of most in attendance, a 5 to 2 margin defeated Monogram's rezoning request, making the super-majority requirement a moot point.

  "Who would have known," said one CRC member. "So much effort from both sides hinged on that super-majority and in the end it didn't even matter.  What did matter is that our town council saw through to the real issues and voted on them."

  Council members Kuhns, Wright, Rushton, deFrance and Savage voted against the plan citing various reasons from a simple informal poll of residents to the obvious concerns that 580 homes is just too many.  Only Hintze and Greene voted in favor of Monogram and both urged the developer to bring their plan to the ballot for residents to vote on.  It seems doubtful that this will happen.  Despite assertations by Hintze and Greene that opposition to high density housing is minimal, the opposite appears to be true as Ms. deFrance pointed out.

  For now it is a victory for the residents of Dewey-Humboldt who wish to stave off the development of high density housing, but there is no question that Monogram will be back with a new plan.  Perhaps next time it will be much more palatable to all.