Lyon County Planning and Appeals Board members say they like the direction of the county’s zoning regulations, but they did not recommend the current draft to the County Commission for its ultimate approval.
Planning Board member Phil Mott made the motion to recommend the draft with two changes — one to allow home businesses to store equipment on site and one to clarify the text amendment process for the zoning plan and the comprehensive plan. However, the motion failed by a 4-2 vote — meaning the Planning Board is officially not recommending the document to county commissioners. Mott was disappointed by the vote and also the stated goal of delaying a decision until after the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
Mott and Like Langley voted to recommend the draft. Mike Ratcliff, Gary Watts, Aaron Davis and Robert Dieker all voted officially against the motion — but all said they plan should be tabled, not scrapped. Ratcliff says the plan is definitely better than it was before. The timing, he says, just isn’t right.
The public comment portion of the meeting went well over an hour. Nobody spoke in favor of the plan as presented. Close to 25 people spoke against it, with concerns ranging from density rules to possible impact on family farms to potential trails on private land. Angel Cushing has been opposed to several parts of the zoning plan since the overall planning effort shifted from the PlanELC joint comprehensive plan effort three years ago to the zoning regulations, which have been modified the past three years. She says there are still a lot of issues with the document.
Board members say the proposed elimination of the three-mile Metropolitan Planning Area zone immediately outside the Emporia city limits is a good thing. They also say it brings county code in line with state law. A recent change to bring county zoning under county-only jurisdiction, instead of seeing those matters handled jointly by the city of Emporia and Lyon County, also found favor with the board.
Around 100 people attended the meeting, well above the 45-person mass gathering maximum mentioned in Lyon County’s public health plan. However, the health order exempts governmental, educational and athletic events from that limit.
County commissioners now can vote to accept the recommendation, deny the recommendation or return the draft to the Planning Board for more discussion. The plan will be discussed Aug. 26.
