Sioux Falls, Tea and Harrisburg agree on regional growth-area boundaries; council approves maps

The Sioux Falls City Council voted 8-0 on Aug. 12 to adopt resolutions that set jurisdictional and growth-area boundaries with the nearby cities of Tea and Harrisburg.

Planning staff and representatives explained the shaded growth-area maps, saying the green areas denote Sioux Falls’ growth area while yellow and orange indicate Harrisburg and Tea. Kevin Smith with Planning and Development Services said the maps align with the city’s tier maps (used for planning sanitary sewer and municipal service timing), and with agreed water-service territory boundaries. He said the documents are the result of collaborative work with Lincoln County Planning, Tea and Harrisburg and the Southeastern Council of Governments.

Councilors and city department directors noted the practical utility of the maps: they show where the City of Sioux Falls will plan to provide water and sanitary sewer service, where trunk lines and a future pump station are anticipated, and how transportation planning will be coordinated across jurisdictions. Mark Kotter (Public Works) referred to a planned trunk line and land already purchased for a pump station serving the southeast area. Smith said the maps also will be used in the Metro Transportation Plan and will be incorporated into Sioux Falls’ 2050 comprehensive-plan update.

Councilors approved the resolutions as local steps in a broader regional planning process; staff said Tea and Harrisburg will consider similar resolutions in their city councils in the next week. Smith said the adopted boundaries are meant to be stable to provide predictability for developers and for public‑infrastructure planning, though staff also said county-wide boundaries and details for rural Lincoln County will be addressed in future discussions.