Refinement of the new City of Emporia zoning regulations continued during a special study meeting for the Emporia/Lyon County Metropolitan Area Planning Commission Tuesday evening.
The plans have been in the revision stage for nearly three years and have just recently resumed after Emporia City Commissioners put a halt to the proceedings earlier this year. The reason for the pause in revision was the city felt the process was taking far too long to complete.
Also during that time, the city had an outside attorney perform a secondary review of the plans to find that the changes made were in good legal standing. Planning Commission Chairman Kenton Thomas says there was some displeasure amongst planning commissioners following that decision, however, he feels those issues have now been put to rest.
Issue of districts, Kaup says they need to stay: Districts are part of the comprehensive plan and are integral to how the regulations are set up. Commissioners have stated previously they felt the districts simply added an unnecessary level of complexity to the plans.
Commissioners examined several options of how they can make navigating the districts “more flexible” for residents. One of those options may be the creation of an application process of some kind according to Thomas.
Commissioners are hopeful they will have the regulations fully refined and ready for presentation to the Emporia City Commission for final approval either by the end of the year or early next year. The planning commission will reconvene for its monthly meeting next Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 6 pm inside of the Municipal Courtroom at White Auditorium.
