Lincoln County schedules Oct. 28 second reading on ordinance to revise joint planning boundary with Sioux Falls

Madam Chair and county planning staff announced a first reading of a Lincoln County ordinance that would revise the county’s joint planning and zoning boundary with the city of Sioux Falls.

Toby Brown of county planning described the change as a boundary revision to better align county planning jurisdiction with the city’s adopted water service territory. “This is an ordinance, that would revise the boundaries of the joint planning and zoning regulations for the county between the county and the city of Sioux Falls,” Brown said. He told commissioners the change would move the joint boundary to 106 and follow the city’s water service area along the east corridor.

Brown said state law allows a city and a county to exercise joint planning and zoning up to six miles outside municipal limits, and that the municipalities involved can agree to modify an equidistant boundary to avoid gaps. He also told the board that the planning commission held a joint public hearing with Sioux Falls and that both bodies recommended approval unanimously.

The county scheduled a joint second reading and public hearing on the ordinance for Oct. 28 at Carnegie Town Hall at 7:00 p.m., and Brown said the county will take public comment at that hearing. The board did not take final action at the Oct. 14 meeting; the ordinance remains at first reading pending the joint hearing.

The change aims to bring Lincoln County, Sioux Falls and nearby municipalities into a single, jointly managed planning area where feasible. If approved after the second reading and required formalities, the amended chapter 155 would alter the county’s joint planning boundary described in section 155.01 of the code of ordinances.