photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County commissioners meet on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026.

Douglas County commissioners supported staff’s plan to begin making smaller amendment proposals to the county’s zoning code on Wednesday while planning for an overhaul of its land-use rules.

The county is planning to take a “phased approach” to updating its zoning and subdivision regulations after a comprehensive review of two chapters in the code was completed this summer, as the Journal-World reported. Commissioners supported moving forward with the first phase of the zoning code update, which would focus on smaller, more technical changes to address inconsistencies and problems staff encounters in the day-to-day review process.

Tonya Voigt, director of zoning, said after meeting with staff, they would prefer to bring any amendment proposals related to the first phase of work in a whole package versus tackling proposed changes one by one.

“It’s a lot of work to bring one to you, go back, make changes to that, and be working on another,” Voigt said. “I think we would probably prefer a larger package approach.” County staff is expecting to bring those changes forward to the County Commission over the next several months.

This work comes after consulting firm Clarion Associates completed a diagnostic review of the current zoning and subdivision regulations. While the review did not produce a new zoning ordinance, it assessed how effectively the current regulations are working and outlined a roadmap for future updates.

The findings from the diagnostic review were presented to county commissioners in July, as the Journal-World reported.

Meanwhile, the second phase – which would focus on broader land-use policy questions identified in the diagnostic review – will take much longer to complete.

County commissioners told staff to begin laying the groundwork for the second phase, working alongside Clarion Associates to help develop a more detailed scope and framework for the phase. Voigt said about $10,000 was left over from Clarion’s contract for the diagnostic review, and those remaining funds will be used to start work on Phase 2.

County commissioners allocated $300,000 in the 2027 budget to go toward rewriting the county’s code. During budget hearings, staff estimated that the overall rewrite could take at least two years to complete.

Based on the direction from commissioners on Wednesday regarding Phase 1, county staff will formally bring forward an agenda item to initiate the text amendment process for this specific phase.

Commissioner Shannon Reid said she was excited to see some of the work come from the first half of the process.

“I’m excited for you all to feel like you’ve made some tangible changes, and we can build some momentum off of that,” Reid said to staff.

County commissioners did not take action on any changes to the county’s code on Wednesday, as the presentation is for informational purposes only. Any changes to the county’s code will be reviewed and voted on by the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission and the Douglas County Commission.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, COMMISSIONERS:

• Approved a policy providing standards to ensure that web content and applications used by the public to access government services are accessible to people with disabilities, effective Oct. 1. This policy is meant to comply with a ruling from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2024 that updated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Local governments with a total population over 50,000 have until April 26, 2027 to comply with this rule.