Lincoln County adopts Chapter 50 change to allow drought variances, creates administrative review

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on June 29 adopted a revision to Chapter 50 of the county code to create an administrative variance process for use during Stage Two drought restrictions.

The change allows residents and businesses to seek variances for a defined set of uses, county staff said. Andrew, a county staff member who presented the ordinance, said the categories include newly installed lawns and landscaping that were contracted or underway before a drought phase began; fire-department training; legally required activities such as dust control; correction of unsafe or unsanitary conditions under public-utilities or public-health guidance; pressure washing to remedy safety or franchise compliance issues; and the operation of pressure-washing businesses. "If this ordinance is adopted in its current form today, we can have this variance process up and running probably by midday on Wednesday," Andrew said.

The ordinance establishes an administrative review process overseen by public utilities manager Mike Simmons, with an appeal of the manager's decision going to development services, staff said. The proposal allows staff to attach conditions to approvals and requires staff to state reasons when rejecting an application.

Commissioners asked how the change affects routine lawn watering. Staff confirmed Stage Two formal limits remain: residents may water two days per week and the schedule is designated by odd/even street addresses. The county removed an earlier time-of-day restriction (dusk-to-dawn) because officials concluded they did not have sufficient staff to enforce time windows, staff said.

Commissioner Cena moved to approve the ordinance at first introduction and the board approved the motion by voice vote; the chair recorded the measure as passing 5-0. The measure is intended to give the county a structured, administratively managed path to handle limited, safety- or compliance-related water uses without waiving drought rules broadly.

County staff credited Jonathan, Mike, and Byron on the GIS and related teams for preparing a variance application form and said the form will later be integrated into the county's digital permitting platform to streamline requests. The board thanked staff for the work and moved on to remaining agenda items.