The Douglas County Commission is tired of waiting for a new set of rural growth regulations.
County commissioners through their attorney delivered a message Tuesday night to city commissioners: Approve a proposed set of subdivision regulations by the end of the year, or the county will dissolve a partnership that allows the city and the county to jointly plan areas of development.
"The County Commission has a serious time problem," said County Counselor Evan Ice.
The county has had a building moratorium in place for about the last 18 months that essentially prohibits the issuance of any residential building permit on properties smaller than 10 acres.
The county put the moratorium in place to give planners time to develop the new rural growth regulations. The process, though, has taken much longer than county commissioners anticipated.
"The point is, we owe it to people to come up with timely decisions so they can live their lives," County Commissioner Charles Jones said when contacted after the meeting.
Joint regulations
City commissioners met with Lawrence-Douglas County planning commissioners Tuesday as part of a study session on the new subdivision regulations. The regulations would eliminate the 5-acre exemption, which essentially allows property owners in the rural part of the county to get a residential building permit without going through the planning process as long as they have at least 5 acres.
The exemption would be replaced with three processes that would allow people to pull building permits without getting approval from the Planning Commission or the County Commission as long as they meet certain road frontage guidelines, have at least 10 to 20 acres of property depending on its location, and agree to build on their property in a way that will make it easier for the city to annex the property in the future. The new regulations also prohibit construction of large, densely populated residential subdivisions outside the city limits.
The new subdivision regulations must be approved by both the city and the county because of an agreement between the two bodies. That was done decades ago in an effort to help ensure coordinated planning between Lawrence and the rural areas.
County commissioners, however, could choose to dissolve the agreement, which means they could implement the new rural regulations without the approval of the City Commission. Ice said county commissioners are prepared to do that if action isn't taken by the end of the year.
"It is a very, very strong likelihood that they are going to adopt these subdivision regulations," Ice told city commissioners.
"I think that would be unfortunate," City Commissioner David Schauner said of possible dissolution of the planning agreement. "It wouldn't serve the city or county taxpayers very well."
Clarity concerns
Adopting separate subdivision regulations would not necessarily cause the dissolution of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission. It still could exist to administer the zoning code, which would remain a city-county document, and Horizon 2020, which is the long-range plan for the city and county.
But both sides acknowledge that dissolving the subdivision agreement could make for a messier planning process. It would create at least two sets of rules for people to follow depending on the location of their property. It also could require the creation of a Lawrence-only planning commission to deal with some items.
"We understand there could be ramifications," Jones said. "But this is such a progressive step that we're eager to move forward. If moving ahead progressively jeopardizes the relationship, you have to wonder how strong the relationship really was."
Mayor Mike Amyx said he would like for everyone to stop talking about a possible dissolution of the planning agreement. He intends to take a handful of planning commissioners and city staff members to meet with Douglas County commissioners to try to hammer out differences. He said he does not support any breaking of the agreement.
County commissioners have said the new regulations benefit the city because they will make it easier and cheaper for the city to expand. For example, the regulations will make it less likely that homes or other structures are in the way of future streets or utility lines.
Some city commissioners, though, worry the proposed regulations aren't specific enough.
"The good intentions of the county really need to be put in writing," Schauner said.
Comments
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Solomon (anonymous) says…
Eighteen months! The city can't take action? In the meantime, they have done everything possible to stop progress in the city, and it shows they want to stop any development in the county, as well.
Get these guys (the Three Stooges) out of there!
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) says…
The eighteen months is what it took the county commission to come up with its regulations.
I think it's fully within the responsibility of the city commission to now ask for input on development rules that will almost certainly become the city's problem within just a few short years.
mommaeffortx2 (anonymous) says…
not to be negative but there seems to be a lot of news about the comish making alot of diffrent groups mad, what is up with that?
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
"I think that would be unfortunate," City Commissioner David Schauner said of possible dissolution of the planning agreement. "It wouldn't serve the city or county taxpayers very well."
It is you, Schauner, who have not served us very well.
I hope it is dissolved.
Rationalanimal (anonymous) says…
Yet another feather in the cap of the current anti-growth, stall, stall, stall tactic city communishers. The Wal-mart litigation tactics probably tipped the hand to the county commissioners This another dissappointing example of the socialist ideologues at City Hall not getting things done. Hey, instead of going off to Washington D.C. to lobby Congress (when Congress is in recess no less) on the taxpayer dime, instead of worrying about coal plants 300 miles away, instead of discussing drafting anti-war resolutions, etc, etc, etc, etc, could you come down out of the clouds and solve some issues here in your backyard? The roads are beyond terrible, potential businesses are driving right by us on I-70 to the greener pastures of Johnson County, and building is going on all around Lawrence whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. Drop the ideological dogmatism for a few minutes and do something for the collectively good of Lawrence's future.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) says…
"Yet another feather in the cap of the current anti-growth, stall, stall, stall tactic city communishers."
That's funny-- especially since it's the county commission threatening to be obstructionist here.
consumer1 (anonymous) says…
oust the 3 Amigos. quit screwing with the land requirement and let us build on 5 acres this means that only the very wealthy who can afford 10-20 acres at 3-10,000 Dollars an acre will be able to build. Another elitist plan by the 3 amigos.
Rationalanimal (anonymous) says…
"That's funny-- especially since it's the county commission threatening to be obstructionist here."
Two points:
"That's funny" characterizes the context in which the current commission treats solving issues that impact Lawrence's future for generations to come better than I could ever have hoped. Thank you bozo.
Last, characterizing "we're moving forward with or without you" as "obstructionist" demonstrates a stunning lack of understanding of the definition and concept of what obstructionism is. If such a misguided understanding of obstructionism is shared by the city communishers (which I assume it does since bozo is aligned so well with them on every issue), the incompetence in City Hall runs deeper than malignant ideological dogmatism; it explains why our commissioners are going on taxpayer funded/all expense vacations to "lobby" Congress in D.C. (while Congress is in recesss no less; did we ever hear who they met with and on what issues?), why their drafting letters regarding coal plants 300 miles away, why their discussing drafting anti-war resolutions, why their applying arbitrary standards to enforce zoning and development issues, why they've made attempts to thwart Eudora's opportunity to have an I-70 ramp, etc, etc, etc, etc. Please, take a 2 minute breather from the liberal holy graile issues, although near and dear to socialist dogmatics, but irrelevant to the future of Lawrence, and solve some problems confronting our City. E.g. oh I don't know, like maintaining 23rd Street so its not one continuous speed bump, or working with the county to make sure City roads don't dead end at City limits.
cowboy (anonymous) says…
kudos to the county , they don't want to be held hostage by a bunch of documented incompetents on the city commission.