According to willistonherald.com, the Williams County (North Dakota) Planning and Zoning Commission denied a request for a 55 home single-family residential development to be built outside Ray, ND, just northeast of Williston in the housing-strapped Bakken Oil Field region. Limited to manufactured, modular and site-built homes, the 164 acres were to be divided into 60 lots, with four for a community area. Although the developers representative said it would attract families with long-term land and home commitments, and received some support from some local residents and commissioners, an area farmer adamantly opposed to the project said, “I’m truly here fighting for the survival of our farm as we now know it.” In support, Commissioner Dan Kalil said, “I have never supported a project that directly impacts a family that has had long-standing ties to the land. There’s a very clear loser in this scenario and I can’t support it.” After the 6-3 vote against, the developers then proposed a 60 site recreational vehicle community on 10.2 acres, but it, too, was turned back by 6-3. MHProNews has learned an initial proposal for the residential development had been denied two years ago.

(Photo credit: Casy Page/willistonherald.com–Kari Andren and Mary Pipla check out a modular mancamp at Williston, ND.)