Shawnee County OKs PUD amendment to allow storage units, eliminate distant sewer hook-up

Shawnee County commissioners on Dec. 8 approved Resolution 2025-102, a major amendment to the Higgins Ranch planned-unit development at 1041 Southwest Walk Road in Mission Township that will remove restrictive limits on commercial uses, allow limited I-1 zoning for self-storage, and replace a required connection to the Sherwood sewer district with on-site wastewater systems.

Joanie Fedani, director of the county planning department, told the commissioners the 2010 PUD had included a long list of prohibitions that effectively excluded many uses normally permitted in C-2 and C-4 zoning. She said the amendment would reconfigure the property into additional lots, permit limited I-1 use strictly for storage units, and remove the prior sewer-connection requirement. "We did remove the requirement to connect to the sewer service. So there would need to be on-site wastewater system developed with Shawnee County Environmental Health," Fedani said.

The applicant, identified in the staff report as Higgins Ranch LLC (case Z101), has already constructed a building on one lot and seeks to make the remaining land developable by lifting the prior restrictions, Fedani said. The planning commission reviewed the proposal in November and recommended approval. Staff also listed conditions that must be satisfied prior to development, including a traffic study, a storm-water drainage report, compliance with environmental health soils and wastewater rules, and coordination with the City of Topeka to finalize replatting.

Fedani told commissioners that county staff notified 22 property owners within 1,000 feet; no written responses were received before the planning commission hearing, but six nearby residents attended and spoke in opposition to the amendment at that meeting, she said. During the board discussion, commissioners asked questions about where wastewater systems would be located; staff clarified that each new parcel would need a wastewater system contained within its property lines under county environmental health rules.

After opening and closing a public hearing with no speakers at the commission meeting, the board voted to approve Resolution 2025-102 (voice vote reported as three to zero). The resolution's approval permits the PUD changes subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. The planning department will track compliance with the traffic and drainage requirements and environmental health conditions as part of the platting and permitting process.

What happens next: the applicant must complete required technical reports and coordinate final platting with the City of Topeka before additional development may occur. Any future building permits or on-site wastewater permits will be processed by Shawnee County planning and environmental health staff.