County Commission approves zoning moratorium during regular action meeting on Thursday

Lyon County commissioners have put medical facility zoning on hold, possibly until next year.

During their regular meeting Thursday morning, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution establishing a moratorium that suspends all applications related to zoning, land use and building permits for medical facilities. As you may recall, this is not the first zoning issue related to medical facilities that local government has taken up in the past year.

Last year, Newman Regional Health filed a zoning amendment request with the Emporia Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals to block Stormont Vail’s attempts to bring a new, multi-million dollar medical facility to the community. The Planning Commission ultimately made no decision on the matter and referred it to the Emporia City Commission, at which point mediation talks began between Stormont and Newman.

The timing of Thursday’s resolution may be striking to some, as it comes in the same week that it was announced that mediation talks between Stormont and Newman had concluded, and just weeks after it was reported that Stormont may have bought land in the county to build its new facility.

When asked about the timing of the resolution, commission chairman Rollie Martin said, “The timing is what it is.” He added that it was a county-crafted resolution and did not come about at the behest of any outside agencies.

He adds that Thursday’s solution is a completely different matter than the zoning changes requested last year, explaining that the city of Emporia’s zoning regulations include guidelines and definitions for medical facilities, but the county does not.

With the moratorium now in effect until Jan. 1 at the latest, Martin said the county’s Planning Commission will spend the next six months studying and drafting said guidelines and definitions. With that in mind, KVOE News asked Martin how it was possible that such guidelines and definitions were not included in the county’s zoning regulations.

He says this has to do with the updating of the regulations a few years ago.

Thursday’s meeting was attended by representatives from Newman Regional Health, including CEO Cathy Pimple, who relayed her comments on the county’s decision to Steven Bazan, Newman’s director of business development. Bazan told KVOE News on Thursday that he believes the county’s decision was “prudent,” adding that Newman stands behind the commission’s decision.