Lakewood Township hosts discussion on potential St. Louis County zoning transfer

LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP, Minn. — Lakewood Township’s supervising board hosted a meeting in order to engage with residents about the potential zoning change that the board is considering.

The singular item on the agenda for the evening’s meeting was the discussing of the possibility of transferring the town’s local zoning control over to St. Louis County, with many of the town’s residents in attendance, a majority of which spoke out against the proposed change.

“This change, which I believe is against the wishes of a large majority of Lakewood, would change our place forever,” said Phil Halverson, a resident of the town for over 4 decades.

“Once you make the change, it’s very hard to go back.”

While support of the change seemed few and far between during the meeting, there were still residents speaking in favor of transitioning control over to St. Louis County.

“I don’t understand the part about where that (Lakewood) would become industrial, and commercial, and all this when the rest of this county is rural, and as far as to keep it rural, I believe they would,” said Sid Simonson, another Lakewood resident.

The township is one of only a few similar sized towns in the region which still controls its own zoning which, some residents argue, gives the town its freedom.