Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners approve conditional use to allow oil and gas drilling near Broadway and 59th despite Haysville concerns
Summary
After a staff presentation and public comment from operators and nearby landowners, the board adopted the MAPC findings and approved a conditional use request (CUN2024‑00271) to permit oil and gas drilling near West 59th Street South and South Broadway. Commissioners pressed staff on groundwater, zoning authority, and enforcement options.
The Board of County Commissioners approved a conditional‑use application (CUN2024‑00271) to allow oil and gas drilling on property zoned rural residential (RR) and single‑family (SF‑20) near the southwest corner of West 59th Street South and South Broadway Avenue, an area immediately south and east of the Wichita city limits and within Haysville's urban influence area.
Planning staff told the board the applicant had already been conducting drilling at the site and sought to come into compliance; the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission recommended approval (14–0), while the Haysville Planning Commission recommended denial (3–1–1). "The applicant was conducting oil and gas drilling on the site in violation of the zoning code and is seeking to come into compliance," Scott Weidl, planning staff, said during his presentation.
The applicant's attorney, Chris Steinkamp, and the operator (identified in the record as Schramer with Bear Petroleum) emphasized the site's long history of drilling and argued that state oversight (Kansas Corporation Commission) governs well construction and safety. "This is also an area that is just simply not permitted for counties to regulate, frankly," Steinkamp told the board, citing precedent and state regulatory authority.
Nearby landowners and operators spoke in favor of the wells' economic contribution and long history on the land; one landowner described soil and water testing he has done and noted tax receipts from a small well. Commissioners probed technical questions on groundwater protection, potential contamination risks for private wells, how nonconforming‑use rights are determined, and what enforcement steps the county could take if wells remained in place without authorization. Staff urged reliance on state inspections for certain technical safeguards while noting county options for zoning enforcement and site‑plan review conditions.
The board discussed competing planning recommendations and legal interpretations of local zoning authority vs. state regulatory jurisdiction; after deliberation the commission adopted the findings of the MAPC and approved the conditional use request, authorizing the chairman to sign the resolution. (The zoning record shows MAPC support and Haysville opposition, and the transcript records discussion that a supermajority may be required because Haysville recommended denial.)
