New zoning regulations were the focus of Thursday’s Riley County commission meeting.
The commission held its second work session concerning amendments being made to the Vision 2025 plan.
“We’re trying to preserve agriculture values and land,” McCulloh said. “(In that light) we’re going to try to divert residential development into areas that are not prime agricultural land.
In hopes of facilitating what McCulloh calls ‘smarter development’, property owners will be required to own only five acres of land to start building, as opposed to the county’s previous standard of 20.
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This past year saw a record number of apartment renters in Riley County.
The appraiser’s department recently completed its annual rent and occupancy surveys. County appraiser Greg McHenry with the final numbers.
“Our median occupancy came in at 98 percent this year,” McHenry said. “In a good market, nationally, somewhere between 93 and 95 percent would be considered at good market.”
This has happened despite a collective increase in rents.
“We do median rents for all of the unit types, such as studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom,” McHenry said. “Each of those categories increased slightly over the previous year. That’s been a trend for several years.”
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Noxious Weed director Dennis Peterson announced that Riley County’s monthly household hazardous waste collection is just around the corner.
The event will run from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, November 12 at Howie’s Recycling and Trash Service, located at 625 S. 10th Street.
Items such as paint, cleaners, oils, batteries and pesticides can be recycled.
