Hasty exit by zoning director latest in problems plaguing department

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – Linn County’s Planning and Zoning Department is without a director following the hasty departure of Kent Harris on Monday, April 7. Harris’ departure came on the same day that Public Works Administrator Shaun West was relieved of his post (see related story). However, the Linn County Commission did not address Harris' exit in open meeting.

The loss of both West and Harris is expected to impact applicatons for building permits, approval of lot splits, applications for zoning changes and conditional use permits, septic tank inspections and, for Centerville residents, any maintenance needed for the county-operated sewer system.

Commission Chair Jim Johnson and Commissioner Alison Hamilton were at Monday’s meeting. Commissioner Jason Hightower was absent.

Harris’ departure, whether forced or voluntary, was the latest in problems that have occurred since former zoning director Darin Wilson left the post to accept a position for the city of Garnett. Wilson tendered his official resignation on Oct. 21 to be effective Nov. 1.

On Nov. 12, the commissioners approved a contract with Wilson to work part-time (up to ten hours per week) for the county on zoning issues until a new planning and zoning director was hired and trained. At the Dec. 30 meeting, Wilson asked how much longer the commissioners were going to require his help as he would like to be done with it. Finally on Feb. 9, Wilson turned in his final resignation to the commissioners.

Since Wilson’s departure a string of steps by the commission left the department in the hands of a director who had little experience in planning and zoning issues. That includes the failure to provide notice of a public hearing on a zoning change set for Tuesday, April 8, and failure to get commission approval to waive landfill fees for the demolition of a house.

West, who was the administrator over the planning and zoning department, was not included in interviews for Wilson’s replacement, and apparently was not consulted before Harris was hired. That was an oversight that Hightower brought up and Hamilton agreed with during a meeting weeks after Harris had been hired.

According to one source, two people who had worked in the planning and zoning department of an neighboring county were passed over in favor of Harris, who was more experienced in economic development and had unsuccessfully applied for that post when it was opened up last year.

To Harris’ credit, he worked to educate himself on the zoning department’s procedures, but the job is complicated, and Hamilton in a public meeting commented that the commission needed to get training for him.

Because of missteps by the commission and the county zoning director, a proposed wilderness-based program for young men could have happened despite the protests of surrounding landowners.

Wilson, who now works for the city of Garnett in a similar position, indicated in a written statement on Monday that under the county’s zoning regulations, the conditional use permit could have been approved despite a majority vote by county planners recommending that the county commission not approve the permit.

The case involves the Shawnee-based nonprofit organization Making Disciples Inc., which planned to operate an 80-acre camp for young men called Living Stones Lodge near Pleasanton. The faith-based organization plans to take young men through an eight-month long “discipleship program” that includes a month camping on the land with Bible study and learning practical life skills.

Immediate plans of the organization were to build a bunkhouse followed by a lodge on the property. Once the camping phase was complete, the men would move to the the bunkhouse for four months of Bible study, learning about agriculture and woodworking and how to use tools. The final service phase would require the men to live in a lodge for three months to learn financial skills and working to determine their next steps after graduation.

Ryan Blackstock of Making Disciples, has characterized the young men who will attend the eight-month program as being 18 to 25 years old who were still living at home and had “failed to launch.” He said the program was modeled after a similar program in Tennessee.

The plan drew letters of support of faith-based organizations in the county including the First Baptist Church of Mound City and Shalom, a retreat north of Mound City that already includes young men among its temporary residents. Similar facilities have been approved in Linn County in the past several years.

Joe Perkins, pastor of the Mound City church expressed his regret that so many area residents were against the project. He said that more and more often young men in that age bracket fail to move forward in their development – and that included rural males as well as those from the city.

An issue about the commissioners having ex parte communication with applicants for conditional use permits (CUP)s had just been discussed at a commission meeting the day before this planning board hearing. At that meeting Mark Hagen, an attorney who had been representing the commission on zoning issues on an interim basis, warned commissioners not to get involved or hear arguments about CUPs from detractors until the commission received the case from the planning commission. He emphasized that the commissioners should be conflict free when an application for a CUP was brought to them.

However, the following night during a hearing on a conditional use permit for Living Stones before the planning commission, Hamilton disregarded Hagen’s advice and attended the hearing. Again, she heard testimony from neighboring land owners against the program.

Their chief concern seemed to be that the young men who attended the camp would leave the premises and meet up with the daughters of nearby residents. Other concerns included having unwanted visitors on nearby properties.

However, Blackstock has assured the planning commission that the young men attending the program would undergo thorough background checks and vetting. He also pointed out that a high mentor-to-pupil ratio would discourage the men from slipping away from the camp.

“On March 17, 2025 the PZ Director (Harris) took the CUP before the BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) to let them know what happened at the meeting on March 11, 2025,” Wilson said in his statement. “He stated that it was denied. Commissioner Hamilton asked if there

was anything that they needed to do. Commissioner Johnson said if it didn’t pass there is nothing for them to do.”

Under the county’s zoning regulations, it is the county commission’s duty to hear the matter and approve or deny the permit on a vote. The commission’s failure to follow any of the processes put in place by county regulations or state statute for waiting until 14 days have elapsed to allow a protest period now allows the applicant to appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals, according to Wilson.

However, instead of having a separate appeals board, the planning commission acts in that capacity. That, Wilson says, is a conflict of interest.

Even if commissioners had conducted the necessary hearing, Hamilton had heard landowner complaints before the CUP was presented to the county commission and should not be voting on the application.

Commissioners are required to remain neutral on zoning issues until the package of supporting documents is presented to them, according to Hagen. Those documents include the zoning administrators recommendation, the “findings” that support the planning commission’s decision, and the final vote of the planners.

In the case of Making Disciples, Harris’ recommendation was to approve the permit.

“They (Making Disciples) followed all the rules,” he said in an interview a few days after the vote.

He added that the camp met all of the stipulations according to the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is based on a ruling in the court case Donald Golden, Appellee, v. City of Overland Park, which stipulated that a planning commission needs to make decisions based on a current comprehensive plan and that any denial of a zoning change would need to list findings that supported its decision.

According to Harris there were no findings listed in the planning commission’s decision. The only reason cited was that most people were against issuing the permit.

In fact, the planning commission had recently recommended approval of two similar camp-type operations, including a survival-themed operation near Tanglewood Lakes and spirituality and peace-themed retreat north of Blue Mound. Both of those likely set precedence for the Making Disciples program.

Although he is not an attorney, Wilson believes that Making Disciples did not receive due process in the application of the CUP, he believes that Making Disciples would have a decisive court decision in their favor, Wilson said that the director of that program will likely not press the issue, because he wanted the Living Stones Lodge project to be accepted by the neighbors.

Wilson said that Johnson should have caught the error after being on the commission for four years.

“When the PZ Director came to them 7 days after the Public Hearing,” Wilson’s statement read. “Commissioner Johnson as the chair should have stated that they cannot hear this until

the 14 day protest period was up.”