Car parts, washing machines and trash bring criticism for unincorporated community of Loomis
The Davison County Commission sounded off recently on the state of the small unincorporated community, which was maligned about the status of many of the properties in the burgh located northwest of Mitchell.
Davison County Planning and Zoning Deputy Administrator Karen Wegleitner said recent calls and complaints have shed light on the poor status of properties at the townsite.
"There was trash everywhere, houses that have windows broken out of them," Wegleitner said of a recent visit. "There's car parts, washers and dryers outside. ... But it's unincorporated, and there's not much we can do about it right now."
The town is less than a 1/4-square mile in size and has about 30 residents, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. It's not officially an incorporated town, meaning the territory is generally treated like any other rural part of the county, although there are some variations for Loomis because it's zoned as a platted town site residential district.
Wegleitner said the issue started with a complaint to the Mitchell Fire Department about the fire risk in Loomis about a specific property that had a large trash pile and was potentially going to be burned. That was passed on to the Letcher Fire Department, which is responsible for fire coverage in Loomis.
"He has neighbors all around him, and there would have been a problem with the fumes and the smell and the fire risk overall with how dry it has been," Wegleitner said.
The commissioners, discussing the issue on March 11, were not impressed with the status of the community's upkeep.
"Loomis has been like that since I was a kid," Commissioner Denny Kiner said. "There's probably three or four that are in good shape."
"With Loomis, you've got a whole town, except for two or three houses, that have issues," Commissioner Chris Nebelsick said. "We have to clean it up."
Nebelsick said it's not a problem that is exclusive to Loomis, citing a rural Ethan property that has dilapidated property and old cars that have been sitting in one place for 20 years, he said.
"We've got nuisance properties around the county and we don't have any teeth to have anyone to clean it up," Nebelsick said. "The townships can send notices and get lawyers involved and spend this money and nothing ever happens."
Commissioner John Claggett believes the county should have a stronger nuisance ordinance. He recalled that when an attempt to enact one about 25 years ago occurred, citizens protested about it being too overreaching about what had to be cleaned up.
"I think when they wrote it back then, they were too loose," Claggett said. "Nuisance ordinances have more applicability today that they didn't have back then because people don't want you to have their junk in their view."
"Whatever you do will affect the county," Kiner said. "It's a tough nut to crack."
"That's what we have to watch," added Commission Chairman Randy Reider. "There's an awful lot of places that have four or five cars out there on their property and a tractor but most people wouldn't consider that a nuisance. And I don't think that's what we're considering here."
Wegleitner said she has not yet taken action on the property with the trash and burnpile because the resident there has vowed to get a dumpster. She said any further recourse likely would need to be handled by the state, she said, and in this case, by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
"Since we're in the process of changing, or potentially changing our ordinances, I figured I would bring it up so we can discuss if there's a way we can have a little more say for nuisances," Wegleitner said. "I get that you're in a rural area, but they're still residences. They're in a residential area."
She added that the best policy still remains giving the property owner ample time to correct the issue before having to get the state or county government involved. Wegleitner expects the potential ordinance changes regarding nuisances to continue to get discussion with the Davison County Planning Commission and the County Commission, but no timeline has been discussed to officially consider those changes.
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