Buying Land in Nobles County, Minnesota

Land Near Worthington May Fall Under a Joint City-County Zoning Ordinance

Case-by-case / verify locally

Beyond its standard county Zoning/Land Use Ordinance, Nobles County adopted a Joint Jurisdictional Zoning Ordinance (dated March 26, 2008) covering the one-half mile area surrounding the City of Worthington's city limits, administered jointly by the county and city rather than by the county alone. For a parcel within that half-mile ring, this means the applicable zoning rules, review process, and approving body may differ from land elsewhere in unincorporated Nobles County -- confirm with Environmental Services whether a specific parcel near Worthington falls inside the joint jurisdiction area before assuming standard county zoning applies.

Feedlot Rules Are Actively Maintained, Reflecting the County's Meatpacking-Driven Ag Economy

Case-by-case / verify locally

Nobles County's feedlot ordinance dates to March 1995 and has been periodically rewritten -- reporting from the local Worthington newspaper describes an update aimed at reducing confusion for farmers and improving manure-management compliance -- with Environmental Services responsible for feedlot application review and enforcement of the State Feedlot Rules. Given Worthington's major pork-processing plant anchors substantial local hog production, a buyer evaluating agricultural land here, especially land near existing livestock operations, should confirm the current feedlot ordinance's setback and animal-unit standards with Environmental Services directly rather than relying on older ordinance text, since the rules have been revised more than once.

Drainage Projects Require a WCA Permit Through the County SWCD, Not Zoning

Generally favorable

In this heavily-drained prairie-pothole farm county, a Wetland Conservation Act (WCA) permit is required for all drainage projects, and that permit process runs through the Nobles Soil and Water Conservation District office specifically -- not the county's Environmental Services zoning office. For a buyer planning to modify field drainage, tile, or ditches on agricultural land, routing the application to Nobles SWCD from the outset avoids the delay of being redirected from the zoning office after the fact.