City planner John Knisely digs into information on City Council's proposed ordinance changes. Knisley helps develop and present ordinance changes and variances for City Council consideration and approval.
NEW ULM — After growing up in New Ulm, urban planner John Nicely left the city to pursue a career in environmental policy and planning at the federal level.
After finding minimal impact on the local community, Nicely returned home.
“When you work in local government, the impact you can actually have locally becomes even more apparent.” He said. “With an environmental background, I started as a feedlot worker and solid waste and recycling officer in Brown County. It has changed.”
Mr. Knisley returned to New Ulm in 2006. He chose New Ulm as a place to make an impact because the town and its people feel like a cohesive community, he said.
“As you walk around and talk to people, you never get the feeling that multiple individuals just happen to live in the same area.” Nicely said. “I feel like everyone has a similar perspective on this city. One of the easiest ways to see that is when you drive around or walk around. Everyone has their own perspective. We keep our yards clean. It’s a very clean community.”
Nicely stands with a map of New Ulm, color-coded to indicate the different zones that designate what can be built there. He said the zone's location hasn't changed much since the town was first incorporated, meaning the commercial and industrial sectors remain where they were originally built and are evolving.
Mr. Nicely began his role as an urban planner in 2018. He said he had extensive planning experience in his previous role within Brown County. This is useful because the city was undergoing extensive work at the time.
“One of the biggest challenges we needed to get started on right away was working to update the city’s zoning ordinance.” Nicely said. “It was a daunting task because the ordinance hadn’t been significantly updated since 1968. We started working on it almost immediately.”
Over his five years as a city planner, Knisley said he and his colleagues have come together as a fully fleshed team. Still, Nicely admits there are always ways to improve. He said communicating with the people of New Ulm is an area he wants to work on.
“What I want people reading this to reach out to me is: What is the best way to interact with them?” Nicely said. “Every time we come up with new policies and regulations, what's the best way to address them? I think that can bring a lot of different perspectives to the work we're doing here. They're important. It’s a point of view.”
Knisley said the city planning department has several plans in the works. Over the next six months, he has identified finding a grant to restore the Hermann Monument as a priority he wants to accomplish. He said he is also looking at parking downtown and other adjustments that can be made to improve the downtown area.
Photo: John Knisely: Mr Knisely runs his own farm and business, selling fruit, vegetables and hard cider among other things. Here he carries several bushels of apples with his son Leo and dog Odin.
In addition to his work in urban planning, Mr. Nicely also operates an alternative roots farm and runs Tallgrass Cider. The farm and business was born when he and his future wife Brooke were working desk jobs and looking for a change.
“We both sat at desks 40 hours a week.” Nicely said. “That wasn't the way we felt we would make an impact. We decided that if we wanted to make an impact, we had to start getting our hands dirty.”
His original 10-year plan to find a farm and start a business was shortened to 10 months when an offer as Brown County's assistant zoning administrator allowed him to start a farm in 2011.
Nicely said he has learned a lot from business and agriculture, which will be reflected in his plans and vice versa. He said his experience as a businessman helped him better understand entrepreneurs when they request changes or changes to city ordinances or have ideas they want to implement.
As a planner, Nicely said he learned how to focus his energy when working on business.
“It helps you take a long-term view.” He said. “Rather than trying to make everything happen at once, set a goal and approach it in a meaningful way. Provide a direction and process to follow.”
As New Ulm's future continues to grow brighter, Nicely said he is excited to be part of the growth and change expected in the near future and beyond.
“I think there are some things here in the city that will make the city even more vibrant than it already is.” He said. “We're going to make it feel more like a community than ever before. That alone will see a huge change in the city, and could lead to more people and families moving here.”
To contact John Knisley for city planning information, call 507-233-2121, email johnk@newulmmn.gov or visit the Engineering and Inspection Department on the second floor of City Hall.
For business information, please visit https://alternativerootsfarm.blogspot.com/ and https://www.tallgrasscider.com/.
