Sedgwick County Commission, cities spar over zoning’s reach

Should small cities have a formal say in what gets built on their doorstep?

That’s the big question in a brewing disagreement between county government and the smaller cities of Sedgwick County.

The majority of Sedgwick County commissioners have proposed eliminating the cities’ ability to formally vote on zoning requests just outside their limits.

Some commissioners say those requests, technically in the unincorporated areas of the county, should go straight to the joint zoning commission operated by Sedgwick County and the city of Wichita. They say the current process burdens developers and homeowners with an extra stop.

“It needs to be eliminated because it’s redundant and unnecessary,” Chairman Richard Ranzau said.

But smaller cities in all five commission districts oppose eliminating the so-called “zoning areas of influence,” saying it will take away their power to control what gets built in their backyards.

“This was a process that was set up to help people have conversations and dialogue when somebody is going to build something as a neighbor,” said Kathy Sexton, Derby city manager.

The commission will take up the issue Wednesday.

The process

Zoning areas of influence work like this:

Say you want to build something or modify your property a mile or so outside a smaller city in Sedgwick County, like Derby or Haysville. Your property probably lies in that city’s zoning area of influence, a grid that can stretch up to three miles outside city limits.

You need to first ask for permission from that city’s planning commission. And, because you are in an unincorporated part of the county, you need approval from the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, the joint city-county department.

If the city says no, the county still has the final word. But the county commission can override the city’s denial only if all five commissioners vote yes.

Seventeen cities have zoning areas of influence. Only Wichita, Eastborough and Viola do not.

Since June 2010, 34 cases have occurred in zoning areas of influence. Garden Plain, Haysville and Derby received the most.

The process can include fairly routine applications – a request for an accessory apartment to house a relative, for example. Others can generate more comments from the community, such as adding new industrial or mining sites.

Sedgwick County is the only county in the state to have countywide zoning and zoning areas of influence.

Commissioner Jim Howell says it can sometimes slow down zoning changes for no good reason.

“Whoever wants to do this project is in limbo waiting for something that’s non-controversial,” Howell said.

Mitch Mitchell, on behalf of the Wichita Area Builders Association, says he thinks some of the zoning areas are far too large, such as those that are bigger than the cities themselves. He also said he was concerned it takes only one commissioner “to kill a development.”

Commissioner Karl Peterjohn says the current process amounts to “regulation without representation” because county residents must approach city planners with their proposals.

Only about 7 percent of county residents live in the unincorporated areas of Sedgwick County.

‘Ignoring’ the cities

Eleven cities sent the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission letters opposing the proposed elimination of zoning areas of influence.

Commissioners Dave Unruh and Tim Norton side with the cities.

“They want to be able to protect their borders and protect the integrity of what they’re trying to do in their own communities,” Unruh said.

Larger cities like Derby or Haysville need to keep tabs on what goes on outside their borders, says Zach McHatton, Haysville’s planning coordinator.

“Your property value is affected by how your neighbor treats his property,” he said. “If you allow stuff to go blighted or bring in things we wouldn’t normally allow, you are, in fact, hampering the property values around there.”

Goddard Mayor Marcey Gregory said city planners still look out for residents in unincorporated areas. Some city planning commissions include people from the areas of influence, for instance.

“They’re going to want to vote in the best interests of their neighbors,” Gregory said. “They’re going to want to vote to make sure their property values don’t go down, so it’s a process that’s in place for the protection of everyone in the area.”

Most of the city officials don’t think the process is excessively burdensome to developers.

“I think most developers want to have communication with the communities they’re trying to open a business in,” Sexton said.

Multiple city officials told The Eagle that Sedgwick County commissioners would essentially be ignoring the cities if the county moved to eliminate the areas of influence.

“They don’t care what we think,” McHatton said.

Ranzau said the cities’ concerns are overblown.

“They’re wanting to protect bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake,” Ranzau said. “ … I’m really shocked that the small cities are getting this worked up about it.”

Potential compromise

The Metropolitan Area Planning Commission offered a compromise between the cities and the county that county commissioners will vote on Wednesday: Under it, the county would keep city review of zoning cases outside their borders. But the timeline would accelerate to within 30 days of when a change is submitted.

Incoming planning director Dale Miller says the timeline now depends greatly on when a resident or business files a change in relation to a city’s planning meeting. A city’s “planning commission has to hear it before MAPC hears it,” he said.

Under the recommendation, four of the five commissioners could override a city’s objections. And the zoning areas of influence would contract to match growth projections, which are smaller than some of the current three-mile areas.

Howell said any change in the process must continue to notify cities of zoning issues and give them a chance to offer input. But since zoning areas of influence aren’t required under state law, the county should streamline the process, he said.

“It’s a very duplicative system,” he said. “It doesn’t need to be this way.”

Where commissioners see a bureaucratic mess, city officials see a process that helps smaller communities control their own growth.

“It just frustrates me that the county commissioners want to take that away from us,” Gregory, the Goddard mayor, said.

“They’re doing it just because they can.”

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 4:11 PM.