Woodbury County adopts zoning text clarifications and opens conditional-use process for potential nuclear facilities
Summary
The Board approved second-reading amendments clarifying that conditional-use permitting for nuclear facilities would be limited to general industrial districts and established a framework for public review, while stressing there is no current project.
The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors on a unanimous 4-0 vote approved second-reading text amendments that clarify how the county would review any future applications for nuclear energy facilities and related uses.
Daniel Priestley, the county zoning coordinator, told the board the change is procedural: "We don't have any specific projects. This is a permitting procedure that the county would have a framework in place should we ever get any potential future applications." Priestley said the proposed conditional-use permit process would apply only in the county's general industrial (GI) zoning districts and would coordinate review with state and federal regulators, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The move followed a public hearing in which multiple residents urged the board either to adopt safeguards or to deny allowing nuclear development. Maria Rehnquist of Sioux City read a list of objections including long-lived radioactive waste, security risks and water use near the Missouri River. "I recommend to all of you to deny this nuclear power project," she said. Other speakers, including Rita Iverson and Tom Stock, raised concerns about waste storage, construction costs and meteorological risks such as tornadoes and derecho wind events.
Other commenters urged caution but not a categorical ban. Doyle Turner said adopting clear local procedures is the only realistic way for Woodbury County to preserve a voice if an applicant appears: "If we deny this, it just means that we will have no say," he told supervisors, citing litigation in other counties as context.
The board and staff repeatedly stressed that the ordinance change does not authorize construction or commit county funds; it only sets local permitting rules to guide review if an applicant seeks approval. The motion to adopt the amendments passed unanimously, and the board reiterated there is no current applicant and no construction is planned.
The county will continue its public-review schedule with a final public hearing next week to complete the multi-step adoption of the ordinance text updates.
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