By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

The 3-mile zone surrounding the city of Hays, its regulation and enforcement of those regulations have caught the attention of the Ellis County Commission.

Earlier this month, the commission asked the county administrator and county counselor to evaluate a number of zoning issues. The commission reviewed the memo Monday.

The commission cited a reported lack of enforcement of the zoning regulations inside the 3-mile zone, which was created in 2007.

Commission Chair Dean Haselhorst said he would be in favor of a reduction in the boundary, calling for it to be 1-mile on Monday night. Haselhorst said he believes the city of Hays does not enforce the zoning regulations in the area surrounding the city and the county does not have an enforcement officer.

“I’m thinking 1-mile,” said Haselhorst.

Ellis County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes said the two commissions would need to meet and discuss the jurisdiction, instead of having the county planning commission looking into the issue, as Haselhorst had requested.

“The issue of the city of Hays’ extraterritorial jurisdiction and what the proper limits of that would be is really more of a conversation between, ultimately, (the county) commission and the city of Hays,” said Smith-Hanes.

One of the options presented to the commission by Smith-Hanes was to hire a zoning enforcement officer at the cost of between $60,000 and $80,000 per year.

The county is also looking into making changes to the regulations for the minimum number of lots in a new subdivision, currently the limit is eight lots.

“If you are preserving a policy of preserving the rural character of unincorporated Ellis County then subdivisions of few lots might make more sense than those of more lots,” Smith-Hanes said.

Smith-Hanes said they also looking into whether new subdivisions should have private roads. The subdivision regulations were approved in 2006 and have not had a significant rewrite since the county adopted a comprehensive plan in 2012.

Staff believes, according to Smith-Hanes, there needs to be some updates to the regulations. The process would start with the Planning and Zoning Department.

“All those things need to just be looked at to reflect what Ellis County is doing now,” said Commissioner Barb Wasinger.

The commission directed Smith-Hanes to draft a letter instructing the Planning and Zoning department to look at the issue presented in the memo.

In other business:

• Ellis County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Ring presented the commission with a report of the severe weather that occurred on May 7.

• Health Administrator Butch Schlyer presented his monthly health report for the month of April.

• Commissioners met in three separate executive sessions to discuss non-elected personnel issues. No action was taken.