Woodbury County opens public hearings on zoning change to allow review of nuclear facilities, increases notice zone

The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors opened a first public hearing July 22 on a zoning-ordinance text amendment that would add definitions and a conditional-use permitting pathway for nuclear energy facilities and nuclear waste storage in designated industrial areas.

Daniel Priestley, the county zoning coordinator, told the board the proposal is a procedural change to clarify how the county would evaluate — not to authorize — any specific nuclear plant or storage site. "Tonight's ordinance amendments are about the structure of the ordinance in terms of permitting potential projects. It is not about the permitting of a specific plant in any nature at this time," Priestley said.

The draft amendment would keep consideration of such projects confined to the county's general industrial zoning district and would expand public-notification requirements under the conditional-use process from 500 feet to 10 miles to ensure broader community notice. Priestley described the change as closing a gap in the ordinance that left the county with an unclear process if a developer proposed a nuclear-related project.

Why it matters: Board members and staff said the change is intended to preserve Woodbury County’s ability to evaluate large industrial-power proposals. Supervisors said the county previously lost a major capital opportunity when it could not meet an applicant’s extraordinary power demand; updating the ordinance is intended to allow a careful, case-by-case review if a proposal arises.

Public reaction was mixed and, at times, strongly critical. Victoria Kitan, chairwoman of the Wnebago Tribe, urged the board to reject the proposal, saying tribal interests and treaty-protected water rights could be harmed and requesting the tribe be added to the county's stakeholder list. "Any nuclear development will impact the health, well-being, and federally protected water rights of the Wnebago tribe," she told the board and asked that the tribe’s written comments be included in the record. Environmental and public-health speakers — including a Sierra Club representative, a registered nurse and local residents — urged strict scrutiny, recommended a 10-mile separation from homes and institutions, and asked for groundwater and infrastructure impact studies before any project moves forward.

Supporters of the procedural change argued a clear review pathway is the responsible local-government approach. Doyle Turner, a member of the board of adjustment who spoke during public comment, said the county lacks the authority to unilaterally approve a federal licensing decision but praised the county for creating a process that preserves local input and gives residents earlier notification. Several supervisors described emerging small modular reactor technologies as lower-footprint options that could meet industrial power needs, while emphasizing that any project would still need to clear multiple review steps.

The board voted 5-0 to close the public hearing and later approved the ordinance’s first reading by the same margin. The chair and staff reiterated several times that the first reading and adoption of the text amendment do not authorize construction; they only create a mechanism for future applications to be considered under the conditional-use framework.

What’s next: The ordinance amendment proceeds through the county’s standard public-process steps; the board said additional public hearings are scheduled and written comments already received will be entered into the record. If an applicant submits a proposal in the future, it would return to the zoning commission and to the board of adjustment for further public hearings and determinations.

Sources: Daniel Priestley, zoning coordinator; Victoria Kitan, chairwoman (Wnebago Tribe); public commenters; Woodbury County Board of Supervisors meeting packet and votes.