Pottawatomie County supervisors on Tuesday approved first consideration of an amendment to Chapter 8 of the county zoning ordinance to comply with a recently enacted state law on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and to revise the county’s rules for temporary signs, including political campaign signage. The Board set the second consideration for Aug. 26, 2025.

Matt Wyatt, the county’s director of planning and development, told the Board the state law now allows an accessory dwelling unit on any lot that contains an existing single‑family dwelling. “Every lot that has an existing single family dwelling unit is now allowed to have an accessory dwelling unit,” Wyatt said, and county ordinance language on minimum lot sizes and design standards for ADUs must be removed because state law preempts those local controls.

Wyatt also explained proposed changes to the county’s sign rules. The draft ordinance removes a section that previously classified political campaign signs as temporary and listed the time frames for how long signs could be displayed around elections. Wyatt said recent U.S. Supreme Court case law and state law have limited the county’s ability to enforce time limits on political signs: removing the section would leave political signs permitted in unincorporated county areas without the old time restrictions. “By taking out that entire section, we are not allowing political campaign signs as temporary signs in the county,” Wyatt said during the hearing; he added that, as drafted, the county would no longer enforce removal windows and political signs could remain year‑round.

Board members discussed whether the change removed too much language and whether the county should keep some regulation. One supervisor cautioned the Board that the county might not be able to enforce time limits because of First Amendment protections discussed in court decisions. The public hearing produced no speakers opposed or in favor on the record, and the Board voted to advance the ordinance to second consideration.

Action taken: first consideration approved; second consideration scheduled for Aug. 26, 2025. The Board directed staff to continue reviewing the draft language; supervisors indicated they may refine the sign provisions before final adoption.

Why it matters: the state law change on ADUs will allow accessory units in many unincorporated lots that previously had minimum lot‑size or design restrictions; removing temporal limits on political signs transfers enforcement responsibility and could allow political signage to remain longer in county areas unless the Board adopts narrower rules later.