Changes proposed to zoning ordinance

At the Oct. 18, Todd County Board of Commissioners work session, Planning and Zoning Director Tim Stieber reviewed seven areas of the current zoning ordinance proposed to be revised. The revisions will be presented at the Dec. 1 and Jan. 5 planning commission meetings and be made available online and at the planning office for public review. Comments can be submitted to the office or at the meetings listed above through the end of January, 2017.

Proposed revisions include a number of administrative changes designed to allow smoother and quicker office processing of land use applications and to land use board appointments. None of the proposed changes are more restrictive than current standards and several will provide more opportunity to landowners for use their land.

A new standard is proposed for ag-forestry zones that would allow permits to be issued if “legal access” can be demonstrated. Legal access will be defined to be either a land connection or perpetual access easement recorded at the recorders office. Many rural parcels in ag-forestry zones do not meet the road frontage requirements and therefore cannot currently be issued building permits.

A new set of standards allowing small numbers of animals to be housed in shoreland zones are proposed based on parcel size and at the discretion of the feedlot officer. This would allow small one to two acre parcels to obtain a permit for a chicken coop and even larger animals if the parcel has more than five acres of fenced pasture that are outside the shoreland setbacks and has no steep slopes.

Look for more as these changes are presented to the public and these proposals are refined.

For more information contact Todd County Planning and Zoning at 320-732-4420.