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McPherson County planning administrator outlines officer election rules, zoning duties and recent permits
Summary
Planning, zoning and environment administrator John Kinsey addressed public concerns about officer elections and the administrator's authority, cited state statutes and local zoning code, and reported department activity including an ag-exempt chicken barn at 906 Deer Trail.
John Kinsey, McPherson County planning, zoning and environment administrator, addressed the Board of County Commissioners about public concerns raised at the Jan. 27 meeting and clarified procedures and statutory duties for the planning board and zoning administrator.
Kinsey said concerns raised by Jeff Smith about the election of planning-board officers will be addressed: the planning board must elect officers at its next meeting, scheduled for Feb. 10, and the board secretary has reviewed the draft minutes. He cited the planning board bylaws and said the process followed Robert's Rules allowances for a paper ballot, but the nominations called out in the bylaws should occur at the Feb. 10 meeting.
Kinsey read from state law and local code to distinguish the roles of the zoning administrator and the board. He cited Kansas statutes (KSA 12-7-45; KSA 12-7-47; KSA 12-7-48; KSA 12-7-49; KSA 12-7-61) and McPherson County Zoning Regulations 2024-18. He said the zoning administrator does not unilaterally decide which cases come before the board: "The only determination made is which board here which type of case is outlined within the McPherson County zoning regulations 2024-18." Kinsey said the administrator receives, files and forwards applications and records for amendments, special uses and variances to the planning board or board of zoning appeals; the board secretary, not the zoning administrator, sets the board agenda under the bylaws.
On the question of whether the planning-board chair may vote, Kinsey said the bylaws (article 4, section 5, item 8) allow the chair to vote; he said that allowance was reaffirmed by the governing body in the 2016 bylaws approval and that no record was found barring a chair's vote since the 2006 bylaws adoption.
Kinsey also presented departmental statistics for January: five agricultural-exemption applications (including one chicken barn valued at $1,700,000 to be sited at 906 Deer Trail), two zoning permits totaling $598,667, five surveys reviewed, seven 911 addresses issued, and sanitation activity including five wastewater permits. He said the chicken barn parcel fronts State Highway 135 and that, because the project is ag-exempt, the county's regulatory reach is limited to floodplain checks; water and wastewater approvals must be obtained before an ag-exemption certificate will be issued. Kinsey explained that if the operator drills a well they must obtain a water right from the water commissioner; if they connect to rural water they must obtain authority from the rural water district; sanitation permits are required for sanitary facilities.
Kinsey invited the commissioners to a comprehensive-plan work session planned for the following week and said the City of McPherson was invited. He noted the county is following a 1959 interlocal resolution (59-33) to coordinate planning with the city and said Foster & Associates is the planning consultant working with both jurisdictions on parallel planning efforts.
The commissioners asked clarifying questions about the election timeline, the chicken-barn location and setback and the scope of the zoning administrator's duties. Kinsey responded to those questions, and the commissioners closed the item after asking no further questions.
