Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Hesston, Kansas

Hesston’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Hesston city limits: the city's own zoning ordinance divides the city zoning jurisdiction into districts.

  • Source is the city's zoning regulations PDF labelled 'updated June 2013'; the city code history references later amendments, so the current official text should be checked.
  • Zoning-district use and dimensional rules apply only as set out in each district article.

  “the city of hesston, kansas, zoning jurisdiction is hereby divided into seventeen districts which are designated as follows:”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Land inside Hesston city limits; the city's 17 zoning districts.

  • District boundaries are shown on official zoning district maps filed in the zoning administrator's office; those maps were not retrieved.
  • The district list is from the June 2013 PDF and should be checked against the current official text.

  “"a-l" "f-p" "r-s" "r-1" "r-2" "r-3" "r-4" "c-s" "c-1" "c-2" "c-3" "m-p" "m-s" "tt-p" "i-1" "1-2" "pud" "p" agricultural district flood plain residential suburban district”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  'A-L' agricultural district inside Hesston city limits: a dwelling on a tract of land.

  • Applies to a tract used for a dwelling in the A-L district.
  • Tracts under 40 acres may be occupied by a dwelling only if the site is an existing farmstead or is non-farmable.
  • Source states the 5-acre figure as an absolute floor.

  minimum tract size for dwelling (general): < 40 acres (existing farmstead or non-farmable site) · absolute minimum tract size: >= 5 acres

  “tracts which are smaller than 40 acres may not be occupied by a dwelling unless the site is an existing farmstead or is non-farmable. in no case shall the tract be smaller than 5 acres.”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Front yard in the 'A-L' agricultural district inside Hesston city limits.

  • Front yards on arterial and collector streets and unplatted tracts on local streets must conform to article XX, which was not opened.
  • Side and rear setbacks were not captured in this research pass.

  minimum front yard depth: >= 30 feet (front yards on arterial/collector streets and unplatted local-street tracts follow article XX)

  “there shall be a front yard having a depth of not less than thirty (30) feet from the established lot line as defined in article ii, except as required in (a.) above.”

• Building heightSpecified

  'A-L' agricultural district inside Hesston city limits.

  • Exceptions are provided in article XV of the zoning regulations, which was not opened.

  maximum building height: <= 35 feet (except as otherwise provided in article xv)

  “no building shall exceed thirty-five (35) feet in height, except as otherwise provided in article xv.”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Subdivision and final platting of land inside Hesston city limits.

  • The quoted sentence appears in the planned unit development procedure; it shows that the city has subdivision regulations.
  • The city code table of contents lists a Chapter 16 Article 3 'Subdivision Regulations' page, which was not opened; its text was not verified.

  “said final plat shall be in accordance with the subdivision regulations.”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Hesston or Harvey County directly.

• Building permit — Building permits for construction inside Hesston city limits.
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit exemption inside Hesston city limits.
• Building code adopted — Building code adoption inside Hesston city limits.
• Inspections — Construction inspections inside Hesston city limits.
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new homes inside Hesston city limits.

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.