By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Last Thursday, the Barton County Planning Commission voted to recommend the approval of two new structures located off US-56 Highway near Dundee. Per statute, a 14-day protest period must pass before the Barton County Board of Commissioners can vote on that recommendation. In a study session with the board of commissioners Tuesday morning, Zoning Administrator Judy Goreham said there may be a formal protest from neighboring landowner Stephanie Turner.
"She sent me an email Friday night," Goreham said. "She wants to protest the project. After talking with (County Counselor Patrick Hoffman), we confirmed that, to do that, she has to have a 20 percent majority of the landowners within 1,000 feet sign a petition and file that with the county clerk."
If the official protest is completed within the 14-day period, the board of commissioners would then need a supermajority (4-1) vote to approve the planning board's recommendation to approve the project.
The two structures would be part of a small-scale, 24-hour seed and fertilizer retail business located at 528 Southwest 30 Road. The two main concerns raised at last Thursday's public hearing on the matter involved increased traffic in the area and groundwater contamination. Grant Moon with Mid America Seed, LLC, addressed each of those concerns during the hearing Thursday and again Tuesday morning.
"On the scale of fertilizer plants, this is small," Moon said. "This isn't a million-gallon tank sitting out there where we're expecting 20-40 trucks a day or anything like that. This is just a small scale that will, one, service ILS Farms, and two, increase our ag retail business by being able to offer the services to people outside ILS Farms."
County officials said they are not concerned with any increases in traffic in the area, and any traffic studies on the highway would have to come from the Kansas Department of Transportation since US-56 is state-controlled.
At last Thursday's planning commission hearing, Planning Commissioner Rusty Carson confirmed with Turner that Innovative Livestock Services (ILS) purchased the land involved in the project from Turner Farms last November with no covenants or restrictions. Turner confirmed it was not sold with covenants that prevented building.
The board of commissioners can vote on the recommendation for the project on April 2 following the 14-day protest period.