A new property owner in Polk County got permission to raise a barn for her horses, and the daughter and co-owner of Burton’s Store in the Aragon area was approved to have the alcohol license transferred to her name.

Commissioners voted to approve both requests during their October regular session, allowing for the Special Land Use Permit and the license transfer to move forward without any issue.

The new barn going up at the Parrish Road home of Katherine Grue will be specifically for her horses – at least one, and maybe a buddy later she reported to the commission – and because of the shape of the property has to be closer to her home than it usually would be allowed per the zoning regulations currently in place for agriculture properties.

“My acreage is oddly shaped and like a soup bowl, and ridges are high and best place for me to put a barn is in the area I’m requesting by the variance,” she explained during a public hearing on October 5 over the request. “(Horses) can make a lot of mud in a low area. The natural place for the barn would be up closer to the house where it is high and dry.”

She also explained that having the barn closer to her home would cut down on the expense of having utilities connected to the barn. She added that her neighbors understood her plans and had no problem with the construction being closer to the house. The request stemmed from language within the zoning ordinance requiring barns to be 500 feet away from any dwelling, which Grue said she believed was based on previous requests to raise chicken houses on properties across the county.

We’ve got a lot of zoning we’re looking at that has a lot of generic agricultural issues attached to it,” he said. Carter requested that specific portion of the discussion over whether to move forward with the request be mentioned in the minutes of the meeting, so he can return to the business later.

The county commission also allowed Lisa Spears to move forward with plans to put additional business items in her name relating to the operations of Burton’s Store. She explained that the family-owned business started by her parents in 1990 is moving more into her name after she became a part-owner in 2011. Her father has previously held the alcohol license for the business. No issues were presented by the County Police or the Building Inspector in the transfer.

“I now feel it is time to begin transferring (paperwork) like that into my name,” she said.