WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) _ City officials in the booming oil town of Williston are working on projects to renew the downtown area and keep out so-called man camps.
That might include changing an ordinance that allows people to have residences behind, below and above commercial businesses downtown. The ordinance was created before the city's population skyrocketed with oil-related development.
Planning and Zoning Director Kent Jarcik says the current rules could be exploited to create crew camps downtown. City commissioners last week approved the first reading of an ordinance to thwart that kind of development.
Commissioner Howard Klug says the goal is also to keep people from living in poor conditions, such as basements.
He says, ``We need places to live in Williston, but who really needs to live like that?''
