Iowa

Buying Land in Union County, Iowa

Union County, seat Creston, sits in southwest Iowa around Green Valley Lake. Rather than a comprehensive zoning code, the county appears to regulate land use through specific, numbered ordinances -- and the most consequential of those, by far, governs the wind energy development that has reshaped part of the county since 2019 and drawn organized citizen pushback since 2023.

No Confirmed Comprehensive Zoning Department -- Specific Ordinances Instead

Case-by-case / verify locally

We could not find a dedicated Planning & Zoning department page for Union County. What we did confirm are two specific, numbered county ordinances governing wind (Ordinance #73) and solar (Ordinance #74) energy development, administered directly by the Board of Supervisors, along with an Assessor's office and a Real Estate Data and GIS Mapping department. If your intended use isn't wind or solar development, confirm directly with the Board of Supervisors or County Auditor whether any general land-use or subdivision ordinance applies to your specific parcel -- don't assume a comprehensive zoning map exists here the way it does in larger Iowa counties.

Septic and Time of Transfer Inspections Run Through Environmental Health

Generally favorable

Union County Environmental Health, based at 705 E. Taylor Street in Creston, handles on-site wastewater treatment (septic) permit applications, Time of Transfer inspection applications (Iowa's requirement that an occupied building's septic system be inspected before the building is sold), and nuisance complaints. Reach the office at (641) 782-7803 or unioncountyeh@gmail.com.

A 34-Turbine Wind Farm and a 2023 Citizen Pushback Shape the County's Northwest Corner

Case-by-case / verify locally

MidAmerican Energy's Southern Hills Wind Farm -- 34 turbines spanning northwestern Union County and neighboring Adams County -- was permitted in September 2019 and built out through 2020 under the county's original wind ordinance. In March 2023, a group of residents petitioned the Board of Supervisors (over 900 signatures) for a moratorium on new wind projects, leading to an abeyance that lasted roughly until mid-2024, followed by ordinance amendments adding new setback and aircraft-lighting standards. A citizen group, Protect Our Land's Future, continues to track wind and solar development in the county. If your land is in or near northwestern Union County, this is directly relevant -- see our dedicated wind-solar-leasing page for this county.

Land use regulation: specific energy ordinances, not a confirmed comprehensive zoning code

As in several small, heavily agricultural southwest Iowa counties, we could not confirm that Union County has adopted a comprehensive, countywide Chapter 335 zoning ordinance with a dedicated Planning & Zoning department -- Iowa Code makes county zoning optional, at the discretion of each county's Board of Supervisors. What we did confirm, directly from the county's own website, are two specific, numbered ordinances governing wind energy (Ordinance #73, most recently amended in 2024) and utility-scale solar energy (Ordinance #74, adopted 2021), both administered by the Board of Supervisors. The county also maintains an Assessor's office and a Real Estate Data and GIS Mapping department for parcel information. If your intended use in Union County isn't wind or solar development, the most reliable path is to ask the Board of Supervisors or County Auditor directly which ordinances, if any, apply to your specific parcel and use, rather than assuming a general zoning map governs it the way one would in a larger, zoned Iowa county.

Wells, septic, and Time of Transfer inspections

Union County Environmental Health, led by Environmental Specialist Amanda Husband and based at 705 E. Taylor Street in Creston, handles on-site wastewater treatment (septic) permit applications and inspections, consistent with Iowa DNR's statewide private sewage disposal standard. The same office also processes Time of Transfer inspection applications -- Iowa's statewide requirement (Iowa Code § 455B.172) that a septic system serving an occupied building be inspected before that building changes hands -- and fields nuisance complaints. This is a building-transfer trigger, not a land-transfer trigger, so raw acreage with no septic system in the ground shouldn't require one on its own; if you're buying land that already carries a house or cabin on septic, budget time for this inspection before closing. Reach the office at (641) 782-7803 or unioncountyeh@gmail.com, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays.

Wind energy: a 2019 wind farm, a 2023 citizen petition, and ongoing ordinance revision

The single most consequential land-use fact in Union County over the past several years has been the arrival of utility-scale wind energy. In September 2019, the Board of Supervisors approved permits for MidAmerican Energy's Southern Hills Wind Farm, ultimately 34 turbines built across northwestern Union County and neighboring Adams County, with construction completed by the end of 2020, all under the county's original 2019 wind ordinance, road use agreement, and decommissioning plan. In March 2023, a group of concerned residents brought the Board of Supervisors a petition with more than 900 signatures asking for an abeyance on any new industrial wind development; the Board granted an initial three-month abeyance to review the ordinance section by section, and that pause on new projects continued in some form into 2024. The Board subsequently approved amendments under Ordinance #73, adding requirements such as functioning aircraft light-mitigation technology for any turbine issued a site-compatibility certificate after January 1, 2024. A citizen advocacy group, Protect Our Land's Future, continues to organize around wind and solar development in the county, framing its concerns around property rights and the future of local farmland and wildlife. We cover the full ordinance history, current setback standards, and what this means for land near the wind farm footprint on a dedicated page.

Recreation and water: Green Valley State Park (not Lake Icaria)

Green Valley State Park, roughly three miles north of Creston, centers on Green Valley Lake, a man-made 24-foot-deep lake built in 1950 by damming the headwaters of the Platte River -- one of several artificial lakes built across southwest Iowa after a 1947 state legislative appropriation, partly in response to Creston's own Summit Lake running dry during the 1930s drought. It's a genuine local recreational amenity, though a state-run park rather than a private land-use regulatory factor. Note that Lake Icaria, a larger and better-known recreational lake sometimes associated with this part of southwest Iowa, is actually located in neighboring Adams County near Corning, not Union County -- worth knowing if you've seen the two conflated in casual references.

What we could and couldn't confirm

We could not confirm, and did not assume, that Union County has adopted a comprehensive Chapter 335 zoning ordinance -- we found two specific, numbered energy ordinances (#73 wind, #74 solar) hosted directly on the county's own site, along with Assessor and GIS/Real Estate Data departments, but no dedicated Planning & Zoning department page. This absence-of-evidence is reported as an open question, not a confirmed fact of non-zoning; confirm directly with the county. Wind farm and ordinance history (September 2019 permit approval, 34 turbines, 2020 construction, the March 2023 petition with 900+ signatures, the resulting abeyance, and 2024 Ordinance #73 amendments including the aircraft light-mitigation requirement) are drawn from KSIB Radio and Radio Iowa reporting specific to Union County, cross-checked against the ordinance PDFs' own filenames and dates; we did not obtain the full current ordinance text via direct fetch since unioncountyiowa.gov was blocked by a network egress restriction during this research pass. Green Valley State Park's 1950 construction date and Platte River headwaters location are drawn from Wikipedia; we specifically verified that Lake Icaria is located in neighboring Adams County, not Union County, to avoid a common conflation.

Verify directly with: the Union County Board of Supervisors or Auditor's office (Union County Courthouse, 300 N Pine Street, Creston) for current ordinance text and zoning questions, and Union County Environmental Health ((641) 782-7803) for septic and Time of Transfer questions

Who to Call Before Buying Land in Union County

We could not confirm a dedicated Planning & Zoning department, a direct Recorder's office phone routing beyond the general courthouse line, or a floodplain administrator's contact for Union County during this research pass -- several fields above are left blank rather than guessed. The Union County Courthouse (300 N Pine Street, Creston) is the general first point of contact for anything not listed with a direct number.

Other

Union County Board of Supervisors / Auditor

General land-use ordinance questions, wind and solar energy conversion permits (Ordinance #73, #74), and subdivision questions -- we could not confirm a separate Planning & Zoning department for Union County, so these are administered directly by the Board of Supervisors and Auditor.

Official website →