Guest view: Council decision shows little regard for residents

I was disheartened by the Cloquet City Council’s recent 5-1 vote to approve rezoning of the lot adjacent to Sammy’s Pizza from R-1 (single-family resident) to RC (highway commercial) in order for the owner to put a parking lot on a former residential lot. The planning commission, of which I am a member, had twice considered this issue, and twice rejected the change. Indeed, the council had considered it in their prior meeting but, after receiving erroneous information that the commission had rejected based on a misunderstanding, had sent it back to the commission, as “(they) are the experts.”...