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Codington County renews First District zoning contract and hears year-end building-permit report
Summary
The board approved a $33,000 zoning services contract with the First District Association of Local Governments and received a year-end report showing a near break-even year for the county planning office and a rise in building-permit values.
The Codington County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 7 approved a 2025 zoning-services contract with the First District Association of Local Governments and heard a year-end planning and zoning report showing increased construction values and near break-even revenues for the office.
Planning and zoning staff reported the county issued about 122 building permits in 2024, including demolition and tower modifications, with roughly 19 new houses consistent with recent annual trends. Staff said building-permit fees for 2024 were about $37,690, and noted that wind-tower years historically produced much larger fee totals (one year produced about $140,000 in permit fees).
The zoning officer advised the board that roughly 44% of construction value and 48% of building permits occur inside the joint jurisdiction area around Watertown, and that planning workload for that area remains high. He said board-of-adjustment actions have fallen over the past decade due to ordinance changes (for example, converting certain farmstead exemptions to conditional uses and creating a rural residential district), and the office plans to review board-of-adjustment fees with the planning commission to better align them with surrounding counties.
Commissioners asked staff to correct minor typos in the contract before execution. Commissioner Johnson moved to approve the contract; Commissioner Schwier seconded, and the motion passed on voice vote. During the discussion a commissioner said the First District's planning assistance had been a "godsend" in answering constituent questions promptly.
Staff also warned commissioners they should anticipate a joint meeting this year to update the joint-jurisdiction zoning ordinance and possibly the county's floodplain ordinance to conform with state law changes and county practice.
The board took no separate vote on the year-end report, which was presented for information and planning; the only formal action on the topic was approval of the First District contract.
