Meade County planning board tells Sturgis: keep proposed Whiskey Ridge area under city planning jurisdiction

The Meade County planning board voted to recommend that the County Commission deny an amendment to the county's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) map that would shift a small Whiskey Ridge area out of City of Sturgis planning control and into county (Area 2) jurisdiction.

Staff explained the City of Sturgis passed a de‑annexation and asked the county to accept planning jurisdiction where the city previously held it. The planning board noted the city had already begun road and water work in the area. "They started developing it," staff said, and the question before the board was whether Meade County should assume planning oversight for land where city utilities and road work already are underway.

Public commenters, including livestock producer John Jordan, asked for clarification about the proposed boundary change and noted the development activity in the area. Board members debated the practical implications: if the county accepted the area into county planning jurisdiction, county staff would take on plan review for plats and septic and building permits even while some roads remained within city maintenance.

Board members ultimately said it made more sense for the City of Sturgis to continue administering subdivision design standards for tracts that abut or are already being served by city infrastructure. The board moved to recommend denial of the ETJ amendment and asked staff to forward that recommendation to the County Commission and to notify city staff (Rick Bush was identified as the city public‑works contact).

The motion passed by voice vote; the planning board's recommendation will be included in the county commission packet for the next available meeting.

Provenance: discussion begins at SEG 2918 and continues through the board motion at SEG 3356–3360.