The Zoning Administrator is appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The Zoning Department also consists of five members of the Zoning Commission and five members of the Board of Adjustment, all of which are appointed by the Board of Supervisors.The Boards are comprised of residents in the unincorporated area of the county.The Zoning Commission meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month pending zoning change requests. The Board of Adjustments meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month pending conditional use or variance requests.

Duties of the Zoning Office

The Zoning Administrator and/or staff of the Planning & Zoning Department accepts requests for zoning changes, as well as conditional use and variance requests; sets times for public hearings before the Zoning Commission or Board of Adjustment; publishes notices of the public hearings in the local newspaper at the applicants’ expense; keeps minutes of the public hearings; and issues building permits. The Floyd County Zoning Ordinance lays out each zoning district in the County and what is permitted in each district, as well as what conditional uses may be allowed in that district. If a property owner intends to engage in such activities as a home business or having farm animals on less then ten (10) acres of land, etc., they may be subject to a conditional use, variance, or zoning change request. A copy of the Floyd County Zoning Ordinance, as well as procedures for a zoning change request and a conditional use/variance request can be found under the forms link to the left of the page. The Zoning Administrator and/or staff of the Planning & Zoning Department will be able to help an applicant determine which request they will need to make based on which zoning district the property is located in. The applications for each of these requests can also be found under the forms link to the left of the page, and shall be submitted to the Planning & Zoning Department no later then twenty (20) days prior to the appropriate Boards’ regular scheduled meeting date as listed in the General Information section above, along with a $150.00 fee pursuant to the above referenced procedures.

Building Permits

The Zoning Administrator and/or staff of the Planning and Zoning Department issues building permits to property owners who are constructing a building or an addition on a parcel located in the unincorporated areas of Floyd County, Iowa. The Floyd County Zoning Ordinance states that ‘no building or part thereof shall be erected, constructed, reconstructed, converted, altered, enlarged, extended, razed, moved or used, and no land shall be used except in conformity with the regulations of the Floyd County Zoning Ordinance prescribed for the district in which such building or land may be situated and until a zoning permit has been issued by the Zoning Administrator as provided therein’. In addition, the Floyd County Zoning Ordinance provides for a farm exemption and defines a farm as ‘an area comprising of ten (10) or more acres which is used and primarily adapted, by reason of nature and area, for the growing of the usual farm products such as vegetables, fruits and grains, or the usual farm poultry and farm animals such as horses, cattle, sheep and swine, while so used’. The farm exemption does not apply for well or septic permitting or floodplain permitting requirements. The Zoning Administrator and/or staff of the Planning & Zoning Department will be able to help an applicant determine if they are farm exempt as defined by the Ordinance and/or to obtain a building permit. The Planning & Zoning Department is in the process of developing a farm exempt application to assist them with this process. This form shall be available early next year. Building permits are based on a contractor’s estimate or if an estimate is not available, by the square footage of the proposed building. In addition, there are minimum setback requirements for each zoning district that each resident must comply with, even if they are farm exempt and no permit is required. A call to the Planning & Zoning Department can help an applicant determine what those setbacks are and whether any type of permit, whether it be a building permit, a floodplain permit, a septic permit, or a private well permit, is needed. If a building permit is required, a permit fee based on the contractor’s estimate or the square footage will be required, as well as a sketch of the proposed structure in relation to the adjacent property lines and other buildings on the property to ensure the setbacks are being met. In the event that one does not agree with the required setbacks for the zoning district they are building in, they do have the option to apply for a variance as described above.

Wind Generators

Whether one is building a residential or commercial size windmill, they are required to make a conditional use request before the Board of Adjustment, as well as obtain a building permit regardless of whether or not they fall under the farm exemption definition. The building permit fee for a commercial wind generator is $500; and the building permit fee for a residential wind generator is $50.

NOTICE: THE PLANNING & ZONING DEPARTMENT IS IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH THE ZONING COMMISSION AND NIACOG TO UPDATE THE ZONING ORDINANCE. THE ZONING COMMISSION WILL BE MEETING EACH MONTH STARTING JANUARY 12, 2010, AT 9:00 A.M., UNTIL THE ORDINANCE IS COMPLETED. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE ORDINANCE SHALL BE COMPLETED BY JULY OR AUGUST, 2010. NOTICES OF MEETINGS BETWEEN NIACOG AND THE ZONING COMMISSION WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE CHARLES CITY PRESS AND ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.