The Johnson County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 14 approved a series of rezoning and subdivision applications, voting unanimously on multiple measures that county staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended for approval. A nearby resident used public comment to press the board to note a shared pond and potential liability concerns related to one of the Thompson applications.

County planning staff told the board the rezoning requests were intended to facilitate boundary-line adjustments and to parcel off an existing dwelling, not to increase residential density. Joe, a Planning, Development & Sustainability (PDS) staff member, said the McGilvray application (PCC-25-28707) would rezone 0.2 acres from Agricultural-Residential (AR) to Residential (R) and 4.52 acres from R and AR to R-3; staff recommended approval and noted the property lies within the county’s conservation-development and city-fringe categories. The board voted 5-0 to suspend the rules and approve first and second readings and approve the ordinance for PCC-25-28707.

The board also approved rezoning and subdivision requests for Robert and Kayla Thompson (PCC-25-28723 and PCC-25-28724). Joe said the Thompson subdivision would create a single buildable lot around an existing dwelling and would not increase density. He told the supervisors, “their request is for a 1 buildable lot subdivision, just around that existing dwelling, and there is not a pond within the boundaries of that subdivision for what they are requesting.” The board voted 5-0 to waive three readings, approve the ordinance on first and second reading, and adopt the resolution approving the Knuts And Co. Subdivision preliminary and final plat and subdivider’s agreement.

During public comment on the Thompson applications, Pete Gacek, an adjacent property resident, said the pond near the properties is shared with his parents’ property and asked how liability and trespassing would be addressed if the neighboring land were developed. “He needs to address the fact that there is liability issues and trespassing issues on that shared pond,” Gacek said. Joe and Supervisors told Gacek the pond does not fall inside the portion being subdivided and recommended he raise the issue at the Planning and Zoning Commission level or contact PDS staff for follow-up; supervisors emphasized the board’s authority was limited to the items before it that evening.

Other small-lot actions approved that evening included preliminary and final plat approval for Atherton Ridge Part 3 (PCC-25-28725), which splits one existing lot into two buildable lots and was recommended by staff and the county health department. For each rezoning and subdivision item cited, the planning commission recommended approval at its July meeting by 5-0 votes, and the county engineer and public health department had no objections where noted.

The approvals carried on unanimous roll calls. Several supervisors and PDS staff repeatedly told the public that future applications affecting adjacent land or shared features such as ponds would be reviewed separately and that neighbors would be notified of any new filings; they advised concerned residents to attend Planning and Zoning Commission meetings to engage earlier in the process.

Taken together, the actions reclassify small areas of land, establish single-lot subdivisions around existing dwellings, and leave the larger parcels subject to Johnson County’s comprehensive plan and Unified Development Ordinance requirements for future changes. The board’s approvals do not authorize new multi-lot residential development on the remaining agricultural parcels without further applications and approvals.