US Land Life

Nebraska

Buying Land in Greeley County, Nebraska

Greeley County, on the North Loup River in central Nebraska, adopted county zoning in 1999 (updated as recently as 2025) with a dedicated Planning and Zoning office. The whole county sits within the Lower Loup Natural Resources District, Nebraska's largest NRD by land area. And along the county's southern edge, Davis Creek Reservoir -- a real, developed recreation area shared with Valley County -- is a genuine, checkable land-use feature for anyone looking at nearby acreage.

Zoned Since 1999, Updated in 2025

Generally favorable

Greeley County's Zoning Regulations were originally adopted in 1999 and have been updated as recently as 2025, administered by a dedicated Planning and Zoning office (a County Planning Commission and County Board of Commissioners handle amendments and permits). The office processes Administrative Conditional Use Permits, Administrative Subdivisions, Floodplain Development permits, Building Permits, Petitions to Amend, Special Use Permits, and Subdivisions -- a genuinely full-featured local zoning system rather than a bare-bones ordinance. Confirm the current zoning district, setbacks, and any recent amendments for a specific parcel directly with the county.

Single NRD: Lower Loup, the Largest in Nebraska

Generally favorable

Greeley County falls entirely within the Lower Loup Natural Resources District, headquartered in Ord. Lower Loup is itself the largest of Nebraska's 23 NRDs by land area -- 7,923 square miles, more than 10% of the state, spanning 156 miles east-west and 96 miles north-south and covering the lower reaches of the North, Middle, and South Loup, Cedar, and Calamus River systems. A parcel anywhere in Greeley County reports to this one district for well permits and groundwater rules; confirm current allocation and permit status directly with LLNRD.

Davis Creek Reservoir: a Real, Shared Recreation Feature

Could not confirm

Davis Creek Reservoir (also called Davis Creek Dam), an approximately 1,100- to 1,140-acre LLNRD-managed lake, sits astride the Greeley/Valley county line roughly 5.5 miles south of North Loup, with a developed recreation area (67 electric and 25 primitive campsites, boat ramp, restrooms, shower house) and a surrounding wildlife management area open for hunting, birding, and fishing (walleye, crappie, bass, catfish). For land near the reservoir, straddling a county line can mean different taxing jurisdictions and potentially different zoning treatment depending on which side a parcel sits on -- confirm with both Greeley County and the Lower Loup NRD which rules and which county's assessor apply to a specific tract near the lake.

A full-featured county zoning system, and one large NRD

Greeley County is not a case of nominal or recently-improvised zoning -- its Zoning Regulations date to 1999 and have gone through updates as recently as 2025, and the county's Planning and Zoning office administers a genuinely broad set of land-use tools: Administrative Conditional Use Permits, Administrative Subdivisions, Floodplain Development review, Building Permits, Petitions to Amend the zoning map or text, Special Use Permits, and full Subdivision review, alongside a Comprehensive Plan and a County-wide Housing Study addressing affordable-housing strategies. For a buyer, that breadth matters practically: a use that would need a variance in a bare-bones rural zoning ordinance may instead route through an Administrative Conditional Use Permit here, with its own defined process and timeline. Confirm the current zoning district, required permits, and any setback rules for a specific parcel directly with the Planning and Zoning office before assuming a use is allowed.

Groundwater governance is simple to state even though the district itself is enormous: Greeley County sits entirely within the Lower Loup Natural Resources District, based in Ord, which is the single largest of Nebraska's 23 NRDs by land area -- 7,923 square miles, over 10% of the entire state, stretching 156 miles east to west and 96 miles north to south across the lower North, Middle, and South Loup River systems plus the Cedar and Calamus Rivers. A parcel anywhere in the county reports to this one district for well permits and groundwater allocation questions; confirm current rules directly with LLNRD, particularly for any irrigated cropland tied to the Loup River system's groundwater.

Davis Creek Reservoir: real infrastructure at a county-line lake

Along Greeley County's southern edge, Davis Creek Reservoir (Davis Creek Dam) is a genuine, developed recreational asset rather than a small farm pond -- an approximately 1,100- to 1,140-acre lake managed by the Lower Loup NRD, sitting on the Greeley/Valley county line about 5.5 miles south of North Loup. The recreation area around it includes 67 campsites with electric hookups and 25 primitive sites, a boat ramp, both primitive and modern restrooms, and a coin-operated shower house, and the lake supports a real sport fishery (walleye, crappie, yellow perch, channel catfish, bullhead, largemouth bass) alongside a surrounding wildlife management area used for hunting, birding, and photography.

For anyone evaluating land near Davis Creek, two practical points follow directly from its location on a county line. First, a nearby parcel could sit in either Greeley or Valley County depending on exactly which side of the line it falls -- meaning a different county assessor, potentially different zoning administration, and different property-tax jurisdiction, even for tracts that look interchangeable from the road. Second, because the lake and its shoreline are actively managed by the Lower Loup NRD as both a recreation area and a wildlife management area, any development near the water's edge should be checked against both the relevant county's floodplain/zoning rules and LLNRD's own recreation-area management plan before assuming a use (a private dock, additional access, etc.) is permitted. Confirm both directly rather than assuming lake-adjacent land here behaves like an unrestricted private-lake parcel.

Who to Call Before Buying Land in Greeley County

We confirmed a direct phone, cell, and email for Greeley County Planning and Zoning from the county's own zoning-regulations document. We could not confirm a direct phone number or email for the Lower Loup NRD's main office beyond its website within this research's scope -- a buyer should use the district's website or the Davis Creek Recreation Area page linked above to find current staff contacts. We also could not confirm whether the Greeley County Treasurer's phone number found in research is current.

Planning & Zoning

Greeley County Planning and Zoning

Zoning district confirmation, conditional use and subdivision permits, floodplain development, and building permits.

Phone: (308) 428-9924Email: zoning@greeleycountyne.govOfficial website →

Assessor / Property Tax

Greeley County Assessor

Assessed value and property tax questions for a specific parcel.

Phone: (308) 428-5310Official website →

Recorder / Clerk / Land Records

Greeley County Clerk / Register of Deeds

Recorded deed, easement, and plat history for a specific parcel.

Phone: (308) 428-3625Official website →

Wells / Private Water

Lower Loup Natural Resources District

Well permits, groundwater allocations, and pumping restrictions within Greeley County.

Official website →

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Sources

  1. Greeley County, Nebraska Zoning Regulations (2025, originally adopted 1999) — Greeley County, Nebraska Government (accessed 2026-09)
  2. Greeley County Planning and Zoning — Greeley County, Nebraska Government (accessed 2026-09)
  3. Greeley County Setbacks For Building & Zoning Regulations — Greeley County, Nebraska Government (accessed 2026-09)
  4. Greeley County Register of Deeds — Greeley County, Nebraska Government (accessed 2026-09)
  5. Lower Loup NRD | Nebraska's Natural Resources Districts — Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (accessed 2026-09)
  6. About – Lower Loup Natural Resources District — Lower Loup Natural Resources District (accessed 2026-09)
  7. Davis Creek Recreation Area – Lower Loup NRD — Lower Loup Natural Resources District (accessed 2026-09)
  8. Davis Creek Dam — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
  9. Davis Creek Recreation Area (North Loup) — VisitNebraska.com (accessed 2026-09)

Last reviewed 2026-09