Zoning in Bourbon County – Facts & Recommendations

The advisory committee determined the Purpose of Zoning in Bourbon County would be:

• To conserve productive farm and ranch lands for future generations and protect such land from the impacts of unfettered development of large scale industrial and commercial uses.
• To protect property values and conserve our natural resources.
• To create a landscape where residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial zones can coexist harmoniously without conflict.
• To promote and encourage economic growth in the county.
• To put in place a process that provides more transparency of large scale industrial land use.

“Zoning”  is the classification of land according to how it is used and defines how it can be used in the future – it is planning where certain industries can locate.  Zoning itself is not “codes” although the Conditional Use Permit process can allow a few codes to be written into zoning regulations.   

Zoning would only relate to unincorporated areas of the county.  Incorporated cities, which are Fort Scott, Bronson, Uniontown, Redfield, Mapleton and Fulton will continue to be under the guidance of their city zoning and/or codes regulations.   

Kansas statute mandates that land used for agricultural purposes is exempt from all zoning restrictions.  This means that you cannot be made to pay a permit fee to construct a barn on your farm. This exemption extends to your personal residence, if located on your ag land. 

When zoning is enacted all existing businesses are grandfathered, meaning they cannot be forced to adhere to the new zoning regulations.  We are proposing “no-phaseout”  which would exempt grandfathered businesses for their lifetime, whether new owners take over or the business grows and expands, etc.  

Transparency: Kansas statute requires at least three levels of input/approval prior to zoning being implemented or changed;  this gives more citizen input and oversight than currently exists where only 2 commissioners can pass any action they desire with absolutely no public notice or input.  These three levels are:  1. Submission to the Zoning Board     2. Required public hearings that allow citizen comments    3. County Commission approval.          For the Commission to override the Zoning Board it takes a 2/3 majority vote, which after January will be 4 out of 5 commissioners.

We plan to advise a maximum of 4 zones:  Agricultural, Residential Transition, Industrial, Commercial.  

We are NOT PROHIBITING specific businesses or land use.  We are NOT recommending CODES requirements for anything other than a few large commercial or industrial businesses that would require a Conditional Use Permit due to size, sound, smell, location, or other determinates that would be considered obnoxious to most people living in close proximity. The intention of zoning is not to harass or hamstring anyone with regulations, rather it is to create a method for transparency  by which the public can become aware large scale business developments and give our local government official the necessary tools to set terms or negotiate with those businesses for terms that benefit the company and the County taxpayers.

(From the Zoning Advisory Committee)