Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Commissioners debate lowering ag-zone lot sizes; clash over protections for farmers and future residences
Summary
The commission discussed proposals to reduce minimum lot sizes in Ag zones and a draft residence-acknowledgement that would allow landowners within 1.5 miles to start or expand animal feeding operations; commissioners disagreed on whether the proposed language would unfairly expose new rural homeowners to nearby AFO/CAFO operations.
Yankton County planning commissioners spent the largest portion of the meeting debating whether to reduce minimum lot sizes in agricultural (Ag) zoning and what protections should accompany any change.
A commissioner who brought forward the edits said lot-size reductions should be paired with changes to Article 5 (residence requirements and setbacks) to protect active farmers and to allow both retirement sales and ongoing farming operations. That proposed text would require a new-residence owner to acknowledge that any landowner located within 1.5 miles who is actively farming at the time a building permit is issued “may expand or start any AFO and or CAFO operation in the future without…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
