Commissioners back MOU with Rapid City to simplify three-mile platting and approve twice-yearly ordinance cycle

Pennington County commissioners directed staff to prepare a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the city to reduce duplicative platting requirements where parcels are bisected by the county/city three-mile planning boundary.

Planning staff said developers currently must navigate two separate planning jurisdictions and file separate plats and resolutions with both the city and county. "We're proposing that we enter into an MOU working with the city's planning department ... so these property owners aren't having to go through two different planning processes and then file one plat that has all of our signatures on it," Britney (planning staff) said.

The board also supported a proposal to limit ordinance amendments to two scheduled cycles per year (ideally June/July) to avoid piecemeal zoning updates. Staff outlined related topics likely to be included in the cycles: clearer criteria for home-occupation conditional-use permits, creating an exception for utility lots so they aren't calculated in lot size, clarifying allowable pre-permit activities (section 506), aligning commercial impervious-surface limits to 30%, and establishing consistent section-line procedures.

Commissioners volunteered to assist with outreach and stakeholder coordination; the board moved and approved direction for staff to proceed with the MOU and to return with draft ordinance-cycle language.

Next steps: Planning staff will draft the MOU with Rapid City and prepare ordinance amendment proposals for the board's scheduled amendment cycle.