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A Buddhist residence and place of worship a mile east  of Harris, in Fish Lake Township, was approved for an amended Conditional Use Permit by a 5-0 vote by the County Board.  The Karen Buddhist Association first was granted a permit in 2017 to locate this facility and associated use a home on Peaceful Valley Road.  

The latest approval allows for extended hours, a bigger window for music and amplified sound and for more attendees on site.

New hours will be from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. a revision from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. allowed at first.  Music will go until 10 p.m. (now 6 p.m.) and guests can number 300— up from 260 originally permitted. There was no opposition provided by the public during the review of the requested revisions.

County Commissioner Dan Dahlberg did include a stipulation for trees that appear to have expired on the perimeter to be replaced, and for a gap in barrier vegetation on the east side to be filled in.  The site is nearly 60 acres.

Chisago County commissioners also recently changed code to allow for “accessory” buildings on parcels that do not have a permanent “primary’ structure on the property and a number of requests for this land use have come in.  Last week another accessory structure was approved on land that does not have a primary dwelling. The location is in Shafer Township.

The Board also approved county staff to apply for a state Legacy grant to use towards connecting the Swedish Immigrant Regional Trail between Shafer and Center City and to do some trail rebuilding.  The county “match” was allowed to be expressed at 10 percent of whatever the grant funds come in at. (The application option was five percent or 15 percent.)  

The request is for $1.5 to $2 million, but commissioners heard these are “competitive monies” and usually all the funds are distributed easily due to the number of asks.  Chisago County would hear if it won funding by spring 2025.

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