In The Zone
Posted: Thursday, February 26, 2015 10:40 pm
yankton.net
It goes without saying that most households in the Yankton area have never been involved in the processing, manufacture, distribution or mass storage of raw materials, chemicals, consumer goods or any other industrial activity.
And yet, nearly a dozen homes in Yankton have found themselves zoned as if they were.
According to Community Development Director Dave Mingo, the reason goes back to when cities across the country initially began adopting zoning ordinances.
“They are in older neighborhoods and the zoning ordinance came through every community in the state in the 1940s and ‘50s and those houses were there at the time the initial zoning ordinances were created,” Mingo said. “Many times, when they created zoning districts, they just followed the path of either railroad tracks and highways, and stayed a specific distance from those with a given zone. So many times, with railroad tracks for example, they tried to zone the adjacent property to railroad tracks (as) industrial because that was the type of use that was happening along the railroad corridors for the most part.”
Mingo estimated that about a dozen houses in Yankton are listed as industrial properties as a result. He said this could prove troublesome when the houses go up for sale.
“When a property like that comes up for sale and the prospective buyer is interested in going to the bank and getting financing, the bank doesn’t look too favorably upon having a house as an existing non-conforming use in an industrial district,” he said.
Mingo added that houses cannot be built new in an industrial zone, but those that were there prior to the industrial district’s formation are allowed to remain.
He added that the city typically works with property owners that want their houses rezoned as residential.
“It’s kind of a housekeeping thing where we try to work with property owners if they do make a request and if the adjacent uses are primarily something other than industrial,” he said. “We try to work with them so that their property can stay viable and marketable.”
Mingo said there are some situations in which they’d rather keep the zoning as is.
“There’s also areas where there might be houses in areas that are zoned industrial that we don’t want to change to residential because, long term, the intensity of the use in the area might lend itself more towards an industrial development,” he said. “So we want non-compatible uses, like a home, to go away through attrition over time.”
Mingo said the zoning quirk isn’t confined to Yankton or even South Dakota.
“Every community nationwide is in the same boat with this sort of thing,” he said. “Zoning really came into being in the 1930s and 40s. Obviously, you don’t want to adopt an ordinance based on existing land use because that isn’t really providing a planning element to the implementation of a zoning ordinance, so you’re going have areas in the initial setup of a zoning ordinance where you’re going to have existing non-conforming uses. … This is a very common housekeeping issue on a national level.”
Mingo said there are a couple of ways that residents could see their houses rezoned as residential.
“If it’s something that we consider more of a housekeeping issue that should change that’s in conformance with our comprehensive plan, the city can initiate a rezoning in those locations,” he said. “If it’s something that’s not quite as clear where maybe the city’s comprehensive plan calls for it to remain industrial, yet the homeowner is interested in changing that zone, there’s a petition process that the owner can go through to petition the city for a change. In both instances, it goes through a hearing at the Planning Commission and City Commission level before a final decision on whether or not the rezoning is approved.”
Currently, one property in the 800 block of Walnut St. is set to have a hearing before the City Commission regarding a rezoning.
You can follow Rob Nielsen on Twitter at twitter.com/RobNielsenPandD/. Discuss this story at www.yankton.net/
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