The Douglas County commission meets in the historic courtroom on the second floor of the old county courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

The Douglas County Commission had a cleanup session Wednesday, taking final action on three issues previously considered.

Commissioners approved 3-0 a text amendment to county code that provides for small-scale industrial uses without the need of rezoning through the conditional use permit process.

Commission Chair Jim Flory said the text amendment was meant to be a transitional step from a home business and an operation in need of industrial zoning.

The advantage of using a conditional use permit is its land use can be defined on small piece of a property, Flory said. It, therefore, doesn’t open up entire properties for potential industrial development as is the case in rezoning, he said. The conditional use permit could be applied to a small-scale industrial use with a residence or a stand-alone business, he said.

Among the restrictions written into the text amendment are that all business activity be confined to within a structure or structures of no more than 10,000 square feet, that there be no outside storage, that the activity generate no off-site effects such as noise, glare or vibrations and that the business have no more than the equivalent of 15 full-time nonresident employees.

Commissioners also approved a 10-year renewal for Community Living Opportunities’ Midnight Farm’s conditional use permit with the stipulation that the facility, which provides services for individuals with developmental disabilities, share with the county the expense of applying dust control material on nearby township roads.

A report to commissioners from Douglas County Public Works stated that the facility, located northeast of Baldwin City at 2084 North 600 Road, “substantially” contributed to traffic on North 600 Road and East 2100 Road. As such, it was recommended as a condition of the conditional use permit’s renewal that Midnight Farm pay for 1,000 linear feet of dust treatment at the annual cost of $1,400, and the county pay for another 4,000 feet of treatment at the cost of $5,600.

Commissioners also approved a new fee schedule for facilities at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. Clearer language exempting nonprofit organizations serving county youth was added to the ordinance establishing the fees, as was a definition of “major events.” Major events are defined as “high-impact events,” involving large animals, large crowds and specialized equipment, such as demolition derbies, livestock shows, barrel racing and carnivals. “Low-impact” events like dog and cat shows would not have to pay the higher deposits or obtain higher cost insurance required of major events.

The new rental fee schedule can be viewed online at douglascountyks.org/depts/maintenance/fairgrounds-fees.