By Dave Baumeister
County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – At the Minnehaha County Commission meeting on May 3, plans were made to look at new pipeline zoning regulations during a public hearing for the ordinance change on Tuesday, May 23, at 9 a.m.
At that meeting commissioners will look at changes to address “transmission pipeline” language for the Minnehaha County Planning and Zoning Ordinance.
In a memo from Planning Director Scott Anderson, he wrote: “The Zoning Ordinance is intended to provide good planning practices and promote public safety. A transmission pipeline will potentially impact future land uses. The siting and use should be evaluated and addressed. A proposed ordinance will accomplish promoting good land use, aid in protecting property values and determine impacts on existing infrastructure.”
Among other things, the ordinance calls for needing a permit from the county Planning and Zoning Department, specifics for plans, and new set-back regulations.
Anderson said there was much discussion about this at the most recent Planning and Zoning meeting.
The entire text of the proposed ordinance change can be found on the county’s website under item 10 at https://minnehahacosd.portal.civicclerk.com/event/202/overview.
Parking lot for petitions
Minnehaha County Auditor Leah Anderson brought out the idea of new regulations to move anyone trying to get signatures for ballot petitions out into the County Administration Building parking lot.
County commissioners unanimously accepted Anderson’s proposal, entitled a “Limited Public Use” policy with very little discussion.
While most of what she offered were common sense rules for gathering signatures at the Courthouse and Admin Building, the proposed locations were the biggest change.
The resolution shored up some of the language in the current petition regulations, but it also called for petition signing to be moved away from their present locations near the doorways of each building.
At the Courthouse, signing activities would be moved down onto the sidewalk; but at the administration building, petition activities would be moved west from the main doors, into the parking lot.
Anderson did say maintenance was looking at restriping the parking lot, and she would like to see them stripe off a location for petition activities, but she gave no indication as to when this would happen.
Presumably, though, the new regulations would take effect immediately, moving petition signing activities at the Minnehaha County Administration Building to be in the main traffic pattern of that lot, according to the map Anderson presented at the meeting.
After the proposal was presented, there was no one present to speak in opposition of the resolution, and it was adopted.
The next county commission meeting will be Tuesday, May 16, at 9 a.m. on the third floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building in Sioux Falls.
