Diane Rolfsmeyer said she received building permits in 2012 and 2018 to expand her home near Milford as part of a multi-phase effort to include space where she and her husband, Nick Partsch, could age in place.
She applied for and received a building permit to complete the three-phase project earlier this year, but then the county determined the permit was issued in error because the addition did not comply with zoning regulations.
The regulations require an addition to offer a continuous footing, the usually concrete slabs or columns poured under the foundation to spread out the structure’s weight.
Commissioner Darrell Zabrocki said in a later interview that without such footings, the addition would be considered a secondary dwelling.
Rolfsmeyer has planned a concrete patio between the original house and the addition that does not have footings, but does have a continuous roofline.
Since the county realized the error in the permit, she has been working to get the building permit restored and clarify the scope of her project, while the Seward County Commissioners have been meeting with the zoning administrator and their legal counsel.
The commissioners on Aug. 4 granted Rolfsmeyer and Partsch a building permit to complete the project.
Zabrocki makes clear the situation is a one-time occurrence.
“This addresses a mistake that we have made,” he said.
The current issue arose earlier this summer after Rolfsmeyer received a building permit for a 37- by 27-foot living quarters addition on her property, which is zoned for agricultural use.
If the addition was deemed a separate dwelling, as the regulations define it, she would not be able to add it because density rules for housing in agricultural zones has a lid at two per quarter section of land. The quarter already has two homes.
During the commissioners’ meeting, Rolfsmeyer said she first applied for a building permit in 2012 to add accessible space allowing her and her husband to remain there as they got older. It would also allow them to shut off parts of the house that were not in current use to conserve energy.
She told commissioners the plan was always intended to be in phases, but the zoning administrator said in 2012, it spanned too long a time for a single permit. She received a permit for an addition that included a family room, laundry area and “tornado room.”
In 2018, Rolfsmeyer said, she received a permit to add the second phase using straw bale construction. That was issued by a different zoning administrator.
In 2026, the application requested a third permit for the third phase and was reviewed by a third zoning administrator.
Zabrocki said neither Rolfsmeyer nor the county have records showing the earlier permits or applications.
In the meeting, Commission Chair Misty Ahmic thanked Rolfsmeyer for explaining the project and said she appreciated the planning Rolfsmeyer has done.
“It is lovely,” Ahmic said.
But she said it normally would not qualify for the permit.
By approving the plan as a one-time exception to the zoning regulations the county will have documented that this was done because of the mistake made on the building permit and is not a precedent to others.
In the end, the board approved a resolution acknowledging the permit was issued in error, but allowing the structure as an isolated exception to the zoning rules.
The permit, the county’s action said, “shall not be construed as authorizing any future dwelling, addition, expansion, enlargement, replacement, reconstruction, relocation, or other structure except as may be authorized under the Seward County zoning regulations in effect at the time of a future application.”
The action dismissed any pending challenge to the permit and noted that if the structure it is authorizing is removed, demolished, destroyed, abandoned or needs to be reconstructed, the application would be reviewed.
In other action on Aug. 4, the commissioners:
• Heard Jon Mohr, environmental scientist and project manager with Spheros Environmental, discuss a potential partnership between the Upper Big Blue and Lower Platte South Natural Resource Districts to study Seward County’s water capacities, development risk levels and potential observation well locations.
• Appointed Alisha Fisher as the new Seward County Aging Services program manager, effective Aug. 10, and heard a report from the aging services board.
• Met in executive session for 21 minutes to discuss potential litigation.
• Approved a conditional use permit for AMG Technology Investment Group LLC and Nextlink Tower to upgrade or modify an existing wireless tower in Township 11 after a public hearing at which no one spoke.
• Approved a conditional use permit for Array Digital Infrastructure and T-Mobile to upgrade or expand equipment on a tower in Township 11, including removal of a vacant concrete generator pad, after a public hearing at which no one spoke.
• Discussed how the county’s phone bills will be divided among departmental budgets in the 2026-27 fiscal year and considered adding an “auto attendant,” which for $90 per year would route callers to the county department they are seeking rather than having staff at the Seward County clerk’s office perform that function.
• Tabled action on a one-year lease of a CAT mini excavator for the roads department pending further information on financing options.
• Met with Seward County Treasurer Jake Zlatkovsky and County Clerk Brandy Johnson regarding the proposed 2026-27 budget.
