by Theodore Wiesehan

    Substantial changes may be in store for the proposed Seward County Comprehensive Plan and land use maps.
     The plan and maps, which have drawn fire at several public hearings from area residents concerned with growth and water resources, were the subject of scrutiny at a May 10 joint work session of the Seward County Board of Commissioners and the Seward County Planning Commission.
     Most of the complaints at previous public hearings were related to the large amount of transitional agricultural and rural residential zoning added to the county's current and future land use maps, especially in the eastern part of the county.
     David Potter, a representative from JEO Consulting Group, the company responsible for creating the plan, was on hand to present possible changes to the plan to the boards.
     Potter said that the current and future use maps could be changed to reflect the amount of structures currently in the county. This would leave some areas of the eastern part of the county zoned transitional agriculture or rural residential but remove much of the higher-density zoning that was a part of the proposed plan.
     Another alternative would be to make the proposed zoning map match the county's current zoning map. The current zoning map features rings of transitional agricultural zoning around the cities and villages and leaves the rest of the county zoned agricultural (allowing no more than two houses per quarter-section).
     Since many areas of the county currently have more structures than allowed by an agricultural zoning designation, Potter said the plan would have to include language to ensure the extra dwellings would not be in noncompliance with the plan.
     He suggested the county add a statement allowing structures already built before the plan went into effect to remain and be rebuilt, providing that doing so did not increase the housing density of each quarter-section.
     The future land use map would be changed to reflect the current housing density of each quarter-section.
     Such a plan would limit additional growth in rural areas of the counties, as adding housing to any agriculturally-zoned section already containing two or more houses would require a rezoning hearing.
     This would make additional development especially difficult in the eastern part of the county, as the area is in a resource protection district due to limited water resources.
     If the addition of a structure required the rezoning of a section in the resource protection district, the housing would be considered a subdivision and fall under the strict subdivision requirements established for the protection district, including connecting to a municipal water supply or constructing a central water system for the subdivision.
     "It's recognizing what's there in terms of natural features and the limitations of the land out there," Potter said of the protection district's restrictions. "If (people) really want to move out there they have some serious steps they have to go through."
     Both Potter and Commissioner Scott Stuhr recommended changing the number of animal units that would require a conditional use permit for livestock operations.
     The proposed plan currently calls for a conditional use permit when an operation reaches 300 animal units. Both Stuhr and Potter suggested that the plan should allow 1,000 animal units before requiring a conditional use permit - the number used in the current county regulations.
     The boards will hold a final work session at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17, in the Seward County Extension Office.
     "My recommendation is that we come back with the proposed maps that we've talked about here tonight and we come back with the proposed changes," Potter said.
     While the session did not accepting public comment, nearly two dozen area residents were on hand, at times refusing to remain silent.