Reno County Planning Commission approves draft zoning text amendments for public hearing Aug. 21

The Reno County Planning Commission on June 19 voted to publish proposed text amendments to Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13 and 14 of the county zoning regulations, and to Article 3 of the subdivision regulations, and set a public hearing for Aug. 21, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. at Reno County Public Courts.

Mark Von Atchen, Reno County planner, presented a clean copy of the proposed amendments and described a set of clarifying edits the board requested at prior meetings. He said staff had incorporated language to make clear that commercial and industrial uses in residential districts require a conditional use permit, removed the undefined term "low density" from certain district descriptions, and standardized setbacks so that every zoning district would have a 10-foot side and rear setback and a 20-foot front setback. "With the changes in the setbacks, the R-3 and the village zoning district will have an increase of just two feet on the side yard setback," Von Atchen said, noting the intent is uniform setback standards across districts.

Commissioners and staff discussed several editorial and substantive clarifications. The commission agreed to change a column heading from "street width" to "road frontage" and to update references where state highways or county roadways have restricted access so the highway frontage cannot be used to meet frontage requirements for subdivision or lot-split purposes. Von Atchen explained the change was aimed at parcels bordering controlled-access highways, where a property owner might have extensive highway frontage but little usable road frontage for subdivision purposes. "You cannot use the state highway frontage as the ability to be able to split the parcel," he said, describing prior concerns from property owners where new highways left minimal county-road frontage.

The commission voted to publish the proposed amendments for public hearing. A motion to adopt and publish the proposed changes for hearing carried on a unanimous roll call: Nisley (yes), Schaefer (yes), Seltzer (yes), Macklin (yes), Martin (yes) and Gertson (yes). The commission also set the public hearing for 08/21/2025 at 4:30 p.m.; staff said notices must be published 20 days in advance and be sent to affected cities and townships in the county's zoned (eastern) area.

Commission discussion also touched on implementation questions for current agricultural lot splits created under earlier rules. Commissioners asked how owners limited by prior acreage caps could regularize parcels; Von Atchen said a boundary adjustment application could remedy those parcels and indicated the department's review fee for such applications is $25, and that additional survey work may be required depending on the case. He told the board that affected landowners who had previously contacted the department would be contacted directly after the amendments are finalized for hearing.

Von Atchen said the department would post highlighted changes and public hearing documents on the county website and would forward any written public comments to the commission for review before the hearing. He estimated that if the commission approves the amendments at the hearing and makes no further changes, the package could be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for action in September.

Clarifying details: the published public hearing date is Aug. 21, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. at Reno County Public Courts; changes discussed include removal of "low density" phrasing, adding a cross-district conditional use permit clarification for commercial/industrial uses in residential zones, standardizing setbacks (10-foot side/rear; 20-foot front), changing terminology to "road frontage," and clarifying that restricted-access state highways do not count toward frontage for subdivision or lot-split eligibility. Staff must publish notices 20 days before the hearing to affected jurisdictions in the eastern zoned portion of the county.