Seward County’s proposed zoning regulations – updated from the 2007 version – are now available for review online at sewardcountyne.gov.
Seward County Commissioners Chair Misty Ahmic told the board July 7 that the Seward County Zoning Department’s website makes available the regulations and a 19-page PowerPoint presentation outlining some of the key differences in the two documents.
The Seward County Planning Commission next meets on July 20. Its agenda is usually posted on the website a few days prior to the meeting.
At its June 15 meeting, the Seward County Planning Commission re-opened a public hearing it had just closed to enable discussion of the revised regulations to carry over to its July 20 meeting.
Some of the 40-plus people who attended the June meeting questioned the difference between the proposed document and the document for which revisions began more than six years ago. The proposed regulations were originally viewable only in the Seward County zoning office.
The 2007 zoning regulations and the updates and addendums tacked on in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2022, 2023 and 2024 were first revised and then the entire document was reformatted with the assistance of two consulting firms in recent years.
The online explanation document was prepared with a consultant and outlines several differences. But it emphasizes that the changes are more about modernizing the zoning codes, streamlining the structure and “tightening” the processes used for conditional use permits and other zoning functions.
The existing regulations were organized with 12 numbered articles, listed the possible land uses by zoning district, and had nine base districts with three “overlays” that could apply to some of them. The proposed document expanded the numbered articles to 16 and reformatted the possible uses into one matrix that shows what uses are allowed in eight base districts and six overlays.
New sections and language have been added for renewable energy, battery storage, solar power, accessory dwelling units, data centers and rentals.
The “overlays,” which provide information on specific issues were expanded from groundwater conservation, floodway and flood plain, and wellhead protection sections to include airport hazard, groundwater conservation, flood hazard, over-density, wellhead protection and CO2 recovery pipelines.
Some areas recognize the growth in fields like solar energy, where proposed regulations address roof-top units to solar farms, while others address requirements for a land-use project’s end of life or decommissioning.
The document also adds focus to defining the zoning process, identifying more land uses and identifying things that have not been changed, such as property setbacks, and the role of agricultural zoning.
