Seward County Planning Commissioners are putting some teeth into permit requirements for homes, buildings and other structures.
With a proposal being advanced by the Planning Commission, Seward County property owners who build a house without first getting a building permit could face prosecution by the county attorney and fines up to $50,000 if the house is in violation of zoning regulations and within the Seward County Water Conservation District.
A new home or accessory building permit application available on the county’s website says the standard permit costs $75.
With the proposed fee schedule, when the county discovers a new home or building constructed or being constructed without a permit, “unpermitted fees” could start at $5,000 for a new home or dwelling.
Other unpermitted fees could include $225 for a sign, $1,800 for a kennel or $6,000 for a conditional use permit-wireless structure. Other fees tied to the county’s zoning regulations could also be added.
Permits are required for good-sized chicken coops, she-sheds, kennels, wireless towers or other structures in the zoning regulations.
If, however, the home or accessory building that requires water service is in violation of the zone’s density limit, an additional $20,000 fee could be added.
If the home or accessory building is located within the Water Conservation District that encompasses roughly the eastern third of the county, all fines would double, reaching that $50,000 point.
The Seward County Sheriff’s Department can issue a cease-and-desist order at the request of the zoning administrator until all permit costs and unpermitted fees have been paid, and the property owner could face additional action from the Seward County attorney’s office.
Seward County Planning Commissioner Phil Hargis helped create the fee schedule.
In reviewing buildings in the county, he said the commission came upon several property improvements and perhaps one home constructed in recent years that should have received building permits through the county but did not.
Planning commission members also looked at unpermitted fees in other areas of the state and nation.
“Ninety-nine point nine percent of the people in the county know and understand that you need to get a permit to build something in the county,” Hargis said in a recent interview.
The fee structure is aimed at the one-tenth of 1 percent that do not follow the rule, he said.
Hargis is retired from a 30-year career as a state groundwater geologist, has written about the Dakota Aquifer that runs under the eastern third of Seward County, and moved to the area southeast of Garland 28 years ago.
Seward County’s agricultural and building density zoning rules are tied in part to the county’s dependence upon groundwater for household and agricultural use. Hargis said the point is to protect the aquifer as well as maintain the rural lifestyle people have in the area.
The eastern third of the county lies over the Dakota Aquifer, which Hargis said is a fragile and limited aquifer that is shallower than the Ogallala Aquifer to the west and does not easily recharge because the soil is clay.
The western two-thirds of the county pulls its water from the Ogallala Aquifer, which is deeper and more easily recharged by rain because it is in sandy soil.
The county’s rural zones limit the number of homes that can be placed on a quarter section of land to two houses in Agriculture 1 (A-1), four houses in Transitional Agriculture 1 (TA-1), and eight houses in Residential 1 (R-1). A-1 and TA-1 lots require five acres per home, as noted on the department’s website.
Prior to the implementation of the county’s rural zoning efforts and the creation of the county’s Water Conservation District in 2007, more dense housing was allowed in the county. Hargis said the two-home per quarter section of land is a good number for land zoned for agricultural use.
While the commission has worked on the fee schedule for several months, Hargis said it is “not a done deal.”
The Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing on the proposal at its regular May meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, May 19, at the Seward County Extension Office, 322 S. 14th St. in Seward.
Seward County Commissioners reviewed the proposal informally at their April 29 meeting and by consensus, asked the Planning Commission to proceed to a public hearing on the plan. After such a hearing, the planning commission could amend or approve the plan as is to bring it before the commissioners for formal adoption.
Seward County Commission Chair Misty Ahmic said in the time since Marissa Pfile became the county’s zoning administrator, she has worked to build relationships with area property owners and builders to make them more aware of the county’s zoning regulations.
“This will help her in that,” Ahmic said.
Ahmic said the county’s work on revised comprehensive zoning regulations is expected to be in front of the Seward County commissioners as soon as June but will also require review by the Seward County attorney’s office. The county was at this same point with the regulations several months ago but returned to the drawing board with a consulting firm to create more easily understood zoning regulations.
The fee schedule is separate from the zoning regulations, but the two documents are linked.
