Cass County Commission returns to 40-acre rule

The Cass County Commission recently began looking at the issue of property rights and recently voted to make a policy change in county codes enforcement. Associate Commissioner Bill Cook led the call for helping farm families address building code and ordinance burdens.
“A lot of our farmers felt that they were jumping through hoops to build a barn to store hay, seed, or equipment,” stated Cook. “It just seemed that we, as a county, should not be a burden to farmers or ag-families who are trying to erect a shed to store equipment and that pose no real threat or hazard. We don’t want to ‘nit-pick’ but instead we want to focus on serving.”
The Commissioners Brian Baker and Gary Mallory agreed. The County Commission voted unanimously to return to the “40 acre” rule. The rule, historically, allowed citizens who lived on 40 acres or more to build storage facilities or barns without having to get a building permit or go through codes.
Specifically, the new policy says that if you live on a track of land listed as a 40 acre parcel, you may build....
Read the complete story in the February 12th edition.