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By Heather Strasburg
SMITHFIELD -- The master plan for zoning was adopted less than six months ago, and many residents are just noticing that the uses they intended for their land may no longer be legal. Robert Low owns two separate pieces of property at 755 W. 100 South that used to be zoned single family residential, which means he had the ability to build as many houses per 12,000 sq. ft. that he wanted. Since the master plan took effect Low's properties are zoned residential agricultural, which means he can only build one house per two acres. "I have children and grandchildren that may want to build houses there one day," Low said, "and now they won't be able to. I'm only asking that my land be zoned the way it was when I bought it 45 or 50 years ago." Before the master plan passed, the City Council was warned by Charles O'Brien that "half the city didn't know their land was being rezoned, and when they found out there would be hundreds of them breaking down the door. It looks like I was right." Councilwoman Janice Mikkelsen also reminded the council of her fear that many residents didn't know what would happen to their land when the master plan took effect. "I think that I'm going to be the skunk at the part," Mikkelsen said, "and I don't want to say, I told you so, but their land was zoned that way for all those years and we should let them have their property back the way it was." The other three council members present didn't agree with Mikkelsen or the Low family. "I really believe in our master plan. Without it we're going to have these meetings every month," Councilman Keith Fortie said. "If we allow five or six new homes to go in down there I know the neighbors that I've talked to would not like it." Mayor Ray Winn also voiced concern about preserving the green space in that area. "The farmers are worried that if too many houses are built down there that they'll eventually be pushed out," Winn said. "We had experts in here when we made the master plan that told us this area would be the best place to preserve agriculture and green space. Our zoning decisions reflect that." Councilwoman Kris Monson said the Lows should wait until they plan exactly what they want to do with the land. "I don't understand what the rush is," Monson said. The request to rezone the Low's property was denied with Mikkelsen voting to allow rezoning. The next public hearing was for Sherwood Hirshi to rezone his land at 49 E. 100 South from single family residential back to residential multiple family. Hirshi's request was denied. "I feel like I did the last time I went in to fight a speeding ticket. I went to court thinking that I was going to win this thing," Hirshi said, "but then I found out the person who went before me was also contesting a speeding ticket. They were pulled over for racing to the emergency room. I left because the judge said their reason wasn't good enough. Why bother?"
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