Warren County MO
As many know I have been to countless board of alderman meetings in the city of Warrenton as well as surrounding cities and counties. Yesterday I attended the Warren County Commissioners meeting where they discussed amending several ordinances. These included Data Processing facilities, Information technology, Battery Storage systems, Outdoor recreation venues and Recreational vehicle parks.
I and many others attended the meeting where County Planning and Zoning made their recommendations to the Commissioners regarding some of these items. At that meeting set backs were discussed with them deciding that 20ft was safe enough. Two members stated they would make it zero setbacks if they could. Now that sets off alarm bells in my head, Why would you volunteer for a commission you don’t think should exist? And…Do they actually have the best interest of the residents when making recommendations?
The Commissioners on the other hand felt that there were things lacking that needed some clarification or some guardrails to protect the residents. The following information comes from my notes and my observations. I highly recommend attending these meetings when you can. They are recorded but you will have to purchase that video or sunshine request meeting minutes. For more information, click contact us and submit your feedback or any questions you may have on how to obtain documents.
When it came to Data Centers and Information Technology the Commissioners felt that clarification was needed concerning the number of generators they can have onsite and they strongly disagreed with the set backs recommended by Planning and Zoning stating that they would need to see setbacks of a MINIMUM of 300 feet from residences They also felt there needed to be a decommission clause with any project. A huge surprise was seeing that environmental studies will be required an made available BEFORE the project is approved.
As far as Battery Storage Facilities they also requested legal to include a
decommissioning clause for those as well as increasing set backs to a MINIMUM of 200 ft.
Outdoor Events had a lot of discussion some recommendations were not more than 3 consecutive camping days and out by 3pm the final day. They asked for clarification on the requirements of how the waste from campers would be addressed. They unanimously agreed that a CUP (conditional use permit) would be required on all land zoned Agricultural. With the last thing being setting a quiet time requirement to limit disturbing surrounding landowners.
They then moved on to RV Parks. There was a lot of discussion about this topic. Quiet Time was again addressed here and needed to be included as well as ensuring proper ADA procedures are taken regarding camp sites and facilities. Also included were proper fencing around where campers are, more specifics as to what material walk ways would have with consideration to ADA laws. Major/Minor Amenities, this topic surprised me a bit. Requirements for RV parks included that they provide one major and one minor amenity for every 30 spots instead of the 15 recommended. The final things here included the opportunity for the facility to have retail sales and require that someone always be on site.
The Commissioners all voted to table this vote until 9/24/26 giving legal time to update the amendments to reflect the changes they voted to make. I invite everyone to attend these meetings if you can. The difference between how the city conducts themselves and how the county conducts themselves is shocking. In my opinion the Commissioners are trying to protect the residents way of life, but will it stay that way? Will they set ways to handle violations of the conditional use permits? There are still lots of questions and of course no projects YET. It is fact that they are being proactive, something we asked the city for repeatedly. As we know Crusoe has purchased more county land so be present and stand up for your property rights.
Again, this is just a quick recap from my notes and is not meant to be an official overview of the meetings.
Thanks for Reading
Jess Sutton
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