GIRARD, Kan. — The commissioners met with adviser Josh Albins via Zoom on Tuesday as he presented the first draft of the new zoning ordinances, the first step in crafting a new, 20-year comprehensive plan for the county.

Albins outlined the process by which the ordinances were adopted. Each article in the new ordinance was adopted individually, allowing the commissioners to ratify, reject, or recommend changes to each ordinance individually.

The commissioners will formally vote on each article during the July 10 meeting, using the meantime to read the plan and form their own questions, comments, and suggestions. During the July 10 meeting, commissioners will vote whether to accept each article as written; reject the article; or make suggestions to the planning and zoning board for revisions.

The current document makes no assumption on adopting countywide zoning or leaving things as they are now. The decision to adopt countywide zoning, and how that will look, will be made by the commissioners during or shortly after adopting the current proposed regulations — and making any necessary changes in those proposals as a result.

Albins, in response to a question from Commissioner Bruce Blair that supposed countywide zoning, said that should issues arise, the comprehensive plan and the zoning regulations can be easily modified by proposing a new regulation that is passed by the planning and zoning board and submitted to the commission for final approval. Albins said that can take as little as 45 minutes.

Commissioner Tom Moody asked for clarification that, should the entire county be zoned, any entity that comes into the county, whether specifically mentioned in the ordinances or not, the final decision, in an entirely zoned county, would rest with the commission.

Albins confirmed that is true.

Blair asked, again for confirmation, that if an area is not zoned, there is no regulation of any solar, wind, or data center project that comes into the county.

Albins again confirmed that is true.

The commissioners will now have three weeks to read and consider the proposed zoning regulations.

This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews