Monday night the Watson City Council called two special meetings to discuss and resolve the zoning dispute with Aziz Ansari by complying with the court settlement made earlier this month.
As at last week’s rescheduled meeting, a deputy from the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office was present and will be present at following meetings for the remainder of the year.
The evening was divided into two meetings, both of which included the city. The first meeting was with the zoning commission and the second was an extra council meeting to review the recommendation made by the zoning commission in regard to the zoning permits ordered by the Chippewa County District Court.
The evening went by without much ado. During the first meeting Todd Vogel read the details of the permits, their uses, and their backgrounds to the zoning commission, which in turn agreed to recommend them to the city council.
A few minutes after that meeting was adjourned, the Watson City Council met. After reviewing the recommendation for the permits, the final vote to grant the court-ordered permits was a narrow 3-2 in favor.
“Justice is served,” said Ansari about the resolution’s passage. “Delayed, but served.”
Council member Loisjean Fossen, who voted against issuing the permits, said, “It shouldn’t be allowed.”
Explaining her decision to vote against issuing Ansari the zoning permits, Fossen said she felt if she lived in that neighborhood, she wouldn’t want to have a small business there in the middle of it. She went on to explain that she felt the decision is one that should be made by the people living in that neighborhood, not the city council, and not the League of Minnesota Cities, which decided along with two city council members to take the matter to court previously.
While the permits may have been granted, the entire settlement agreement has not yet been complied with. The city of Watson still owes Ansari $50,000.
That process is not something the council can comply with on its own terms. The League of Minnesota Cities will have to discuss those details, as it will be responsible for paying the $50,000.
