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County
questions authority
to control state land
Wayne White
Managing Editor
For now, Osage County Commissioners will stand behind the county’s
regulations for a proposed land purchase by Kansas Wildlife and
Parks.
Commissioners learned last month from Dale Schwieger, Eisenhower
State Park manager, of the pending purchase of 262 acres near Melvern
Lake. The land is near 293rd Street and Indian Hills Road.
Plans for the property have not been set, but Schwieger suggested
the land will likely be a multi-use area that could be used for
hunting, fishing, hiking and all-terrain vehicle trails. A portion
of the property, much of which is an abandoned rock quarry, will
remain as agriculture for wildlife feed.
At the June 23 commission meeting, Schwieger said the sale is expected
to be completed by July 31.
Monday, commissioners heard from Osage County land use coordinator
Sheila Dale that she had received a ruling from Dave Yearout, the
county’s land use legal adviser, that the state is not exempt
from the county’s land use regulations.
The discussion followed commissioners’ review of a report
of the county-sponsored Fourth of July celebration stating that
over 3,000 cars had entered Eisenhower Park during the event, with
the park charging for day use permits for each car. Osage County
Commissioner Larry Woodson noted the county’s role as sponsor
of the fireworks festival began several years ago after worries
the state park may close.
“The original discussion was this fear of closing Eisenhower
Park,” Woodson said. “We wanted to maintain the park,
so we helped promote their activities. So it appears now Eisenhower
Park is intact and in fact we’re not in jeopardy of losing
it.”
County counselor Delton Gilliland questioned that reasoning.
“And now they’re buying additional park land in the
same neighborhood?” Gilliland asked in reference to the quarry
purchase. “If they’re wanting to expand now, I wouldn’t
think you could discuss both issues with the same mouth.”
According to Dale, Yearout said the state should abide by the county’s
zoning regulations.
“Otherwise you could have other things in there that you may
not want,” Dale said. “Conditional use is the only way
you could discuss what goes in there.”
Dale said the zoning regulations are in place to protect rights
of landowners.
If the regulations are disregarded, “anything I want to put
in there, can go in there,” Dale said. “And you as a
surrounding landowner who may object, you have lost your due process
rights.”
Gilliland questioned whether recreation was permitted in an agriculture
zone, the zoning category of the quarry land; Dale said it was.
Gilliland pointed out the county’s state parks were in place
before 1983, when the county’s zoning regulations were put
in effect, likely exempting the existing parks from the regulations.
“They could put a ferris wheel and roller coaster in there,”
Woodson said.
Osage County Commissioner William Prescott said he did not want
to “micro-manage” and wanted consistency in the county’s
regulation on zoning.
“If someone went in there now and wanted to have a large family
reunion,” Prescott said, “I know I don’t want
our desks piled up with family reunion requests.”
“And that’s not what the rules say, and if they would
come in and ask, they’d know,” Dale answered.
Woodson questioned whether Eisenhower Park had obtained permits
for new cabins recently installed.
Dale said the contractor installing the cabins had applied for the
permits.
“Technically they have to have a septic tank,” she said.
“Technically they have to have a building permit, because
federal government is not exempt from flood zone regulations. The
only way to determine that is with those permits.”
Prescott noted the use of the pending purchase has not been designated.
“This is kind of premature,” he said.
Dale said that if the state purchased the land and used it as agriculture,
no permit of any kind would be needed.
Prescott questioned whether the state would be assuming liability
for reclamation of the old quarry on the site; Woodson echoed his
concern.
“If Wildlife and Parks accepts it,” Woodson said, “then
whoever owns the quarry ducks out having to pay reclamation, somebody
saves a bunch of money potentially.”
“If they want to use it as farm ground they don’t have
to apply for a permit,” Prescott said, “but somebody
has to stand and deliver on the reclamation.”
Woodson suggested the county should contact someone at the state
conservation commission, which Dale said regulated mine reclamation.
“[The conservation commission] does know about it,”
Dale said. “I got called on the carpet by the banks and lawyers
because [a conservation commission representative] picked me up
and took me out there to check on it. He invited me to go along,
I went.”
Gilliland recommended the county retain its authority to control
land uses.
“I think that’s the mechanism for dealing with these
issues,” he said.
Dale added, “The reason you want to control it is to give
those landowners due process.”
Osage County Commissioner Carl Meyer asked, “So the general
consensus here is they need to go through due process?”
With the other two commissioners answering in the affirmative, Gilliland
said he would contact attorneys representing Wildlife and Parks.
“We’ll broach the subject they have to go through the
conditional use process,” Gilliland said. |
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