by Dennis Dalman
David and Susan Counter are not happy – to say the least – about three of five Stearns County commissioners giving the OK to a proposed events center right next to where they live in St. Wendel Township.
(See related story in today’s paper.)
For many decades, the Counters, now both retired, have lived on their farmland. Their home property is along 360th Street N. right next door to Sunny Mary Meadow. The Stearns County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 Feb. 11 to approve a conditional-use permit that would allow an events center on the property. That property, dubbed Sunny Mary Meadow, is owned by Elizabeth Fiedler who lives there and operates a cut-flower business with big blooming gardens on the land.
On Feb. 15, Susan Counter called the Newsleaders to express the disappointment tinged with anger that she, her husband and at least 18 other neighbors feel about the county commission granting a CUP for an events center.
During an interview with the Newsleaders, Counter made the following points:
The construction of a large events-center parking lot (40-plus parking spaces) would cause water to pool and flood onto Counters’ property, making it virtually impossible to harvest the hay they used to feed their hobby-farm cattle.
“We’d have to buy hay,” she said. “We are both retired, living on a fixed income.”
The events center, Counter said, would hold up to 160 people, according to plans submitted to the Stearns County Planning Commission and the county board. The planning commission unanimously recommended approval of the CUP. That number of events-center participants would greatly increase traffic on area roads, Counter said.
She rides a three-wheel bicycle on 360th Street, as do many neighbors and their children who bike or walk frequently on that narrow roadway, which has no side shoulders. An increase in traffic, Counter said she believes, would increase safety hazards.
She said noise (especially loud music) and the busy commotion of events would be a jarring change to what is now a quiet, peaceful area.
“That will take away our peace and serenity,” Counter said. “We love to sit in our front yard because of the peace and quiet.”
Both she and her husband often have a hard time sleeping because of age-related ailments.
“Our bedroom in our house is right next to the property,” Counter said. “We will really have a hard time trying to sleep with all the noise and the traffic.”
Counter noted more than 20 neighbors signed a petition opposing the events-center permit, mostly on the grounds of noise and traffic, and many called the planning-commission members or emailed them to explain their concerns. But Counter claims none of them responded except for commissioners Joe Perske and Jeff Bertram.
Counter said not once did Fiedler ever contact the neighbors to share her events-center plans with them personally.
“We never wanted to be un-neighborly,” she said, “but we only found out about the planned center when we all got a letter informing us of the planning-commission meeting. Some who live here left the city in search of peace and quiet out here in the country. We feel we’ve been deceived. All the years we’ve lived here, we never once ever thought we’d have to deal with an events center. And that center – the noise and traffic – will definitely (adversely) affect the value of our property.”
During their “golden years,” David Counter’s mother and father lived in their home until his father passed away last May. His mother is now in a senior-living community.
“They and my husband and I so enjoyed sitting outside enjoying the peace and quiet,” Counter said. “That center and parking lot are supposed to be built and ready in the fall of 2025. Well, there goes our peace and quiet.”
