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Brown County planning commission votes to proceed with industrial, commercial solar zoning while respecting city extraterritorial limits
Summary
The Brown County Planning Commission on May 7 voted to begin zoning for industrial and commercial solar energy production, approving a motion that preserves existing city extraterritorial jurisdictions after input from Sabetha and a written response from Horton; vote was 5–0 with two absent.
The Brown County Planning Commission voted May 7 to begin zoning the county for industrial and commercial solar energy production while respecting existing city extraterritorial jurisdictions, the body’s chair announced during the session at the Brown County Courthouse.
The motion, made by Commissioner Clif Heiniger and seconded by Commissioner Shawn Lloyd, carried with five votes in favor and two members absent. The motion directs the planning commission to proceed with drafting zoning measures for industrial/commercial solar uses while recognizing current city extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) boundaries.
Chair Bill Vonderschmidt told commissioners he had contacted the cities of Hiawatha, Horton and Sabetha to seek local input on how county zoning should relate to city ETJs. Sabetha sent a representative in person; Doug Allen, Sabetha’s city administrator, provided the commission with a copy of the City of Sabetha Zoning Ordinance and a map showing city limits and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
According to Allen’s presentation to the commission, Sabetha’s ETJ extends five miles in order to encompass city property used for the municipal water supply. Allen said that under Sabetha’s ordinance, non‑agricultural land uses within the city’s ETJ would require conditional use permit procedures, including neighbor input, a public hearing and city commission approval. Horton did not attend in person but submitted a written response; Hiawatha was offered the floor and did not respond.
During deliberations the commission discussed three possible approaches: (A) respect the cities’ existing ETJs (noting Hiawatha and Horton broadly follow three‑mile ETJs while Sabetha uses five miles in parts), (B) press cities to uniformly adopt a three‑mile ETJ, or (C) assert county zoning authority up to city limits. Commissioners approved option A as the basis for proceeding on solar zoning.
The commission also approved a correction to the April 2, 2025 minutes, and the meeting concluded after a motion to adjourn. The planning commission will prepare its recommendations on solar zoning and present them to the Brown County Commission at a future meeting, per the agenda.
Authorities and records provided at the meeting included a copy of the City of Sabetha Zoning Ordinance and an ETJ map submitted by Sabetha; Horton’s response was submitted as a letter to the commission.
