Over the objections of several Lyon County residents, the county’s Planning and Appeals Board is recommending approval of a significant zoning change for rural property northeast of Emporia.
Board members voted 3-1 with one abstention to recommend the zoning change from agriculture to heavy industrial for the so-called Price tract in the 1500 block of Road 200. The vote was slightly different than the 4-0 recommendation last month, but the issues at play were somewhat different after Lyon County commissioners returned the application to the Planning and Appeals Board. Commissioners requested more controls of the potential property uses with the county initially having input on less than 10 of the nearly 50 possible uses, and Planning and Appeals Board members approved a wider list of uses needing a conditional use permit:
*Arsenal
*Auction sales, including livestock
*Compost plants
*Electrical generating plants
*Exterminating services
*Foundries
*Meatpacking plants
*Motor vehicle salvage yards
*Waste or disposal transfer station
*Manufacturing, fabrication or processing of products considered noxious or offensive due to smoke, dust, odor, noise, fumes or explosiveness
This list now joins other uses approved based on conditional use permits:
*Commercial feedlots
*Fat rendering facilities
*Fertilizer manufacturing facilities
*Gas and petroleum storage facilities
*Propane storage yards
*Sanitary landfills
*Sewage disposal plants
*Ore or metal smelting facilities
Conditional use permits will also be based on studies as required by Planning and Zoning be submitted before construction begins.
The site is considered as desirable by the railroad because of its proximity to the rail and available power nearby. Residents nearby, however, expect increased traffic and believe such a move amounts to spot zoning with no guarantee of what may be the next use of the property.
Planning Board member Phil Mott joined Mike Langley and Aaron Davis was among those who voted in favor of the adjusted recommendation.
Fellow Planning Board member Gary Watts disagreed.
Trenton Fagg abstained, citing longstanding employment through the railroad.
It will be at least two weeks before county commissioners get the revised application. There is a valid protest petition in place, so unanimous approval is needed for final approval.
Property owners Lex and Janice Price have reached an agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe to market the over 300-acre tract if the county changes the zoning. Two local business development groups — the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas and Emporia Enterprises — worked earlier this decade to bring a Menards distribution facility and a Nucor steel plant to that area, but neither project moved forward.
