US Land Life

South Dakota

Buying Land in McPherson County, South Dakota

North-central South Dakota's McPherson County, seat Leola, has a real, recently readopted zoning ordinance -- Ordinance #2024-1 -- that sets a building-permit threshold for unincorporated land while the incorporated cities of Leola and Eureka handle their own permits. The county has also hosted a utility-scale wind farm, Tatanka, since 2008, and includes at least one Hutterite colony -- two facts a buyer should weigh alongside the county's small, sparsely populated agricultural base.

Recently Readopted County Zoning (Ordinance #2024-1)

Generally favorable

McPherson County's current zoning ordinance, #2024-1, dates to 2024 -- among the more recently updated zoning codes found in comparable rural South Dakota counties. It requires a building permit for improvements once market value exceeds $3,000, for property in the unincorporated communities of Long Lake, Wetonka, and Hillsview as well as rural (unincorporated) county land generally; permits are administered through the county Equalization office, and variance/conditional-use requests go to the Planning & Zoning Board of Adjustment. This is a real, checkable exception to the state hub's point that many rural South Dakota counties have no zoning at all -- confirm the parcel's district and current permit threshold directly, since ordinances can be amended after this 2024 baseline.

City Land Is Handled Separately From County Zoning

Case-by-case / verify locally

If a parcel sits within the City of Leola or the City of Eureka, the county's building-permit process does not apply -- both cities issue their own building permits independently of the county. A tract that reads as "McPherson County" in a listing could actually be governed by one of these two cities' own ordinances instead of the county's if it falls inside city limits. Confirm which jurisdiction actually applies to a specific parcel before assuming county zoning rules govern it.

A Long-Running Utility-Scale Wind Farm and at Least One Hutterite Colony

Could not confirm

McPherson County hosts the Tatanka Wind Farm, a 59-turbine, 88.5-megawatt project that began generating power in March 2008 -- an earlier-generation utility-scale wind development than the 2018-2019 wave seen in some northeastern SD counties. The county is also home to at least one Hutterite colony (Grassland Colony), a communal land-ownership and farming arrangement distinct from conventional individual land ownership. We could not confirm the zoning ordinance's specific wind-turbine setback distance or find a comprehensive list of Hutterite colonies in the county from public sources reviewed -- if a specific parcel sits near an existing turbine string or adjoins colony-owned land, confirm setback rules and any relevant easements or land-use arrangements directly with the county Planning & Zoning office.

A freshly readopted zoning ordinance, with city land carved out

McPherson County has real, current zoning: Ordinance #2024-1, which sets out building-permit and land-use requirements for the county's unincorporated land. Under it, any improvement to a structure or building with a market value over $3,000 requires a county building permit if the property sits in rural (unincorporated) McPherson County or in the small unincorporated communities of Long Lake, Wetonka, or Hillsview. That permitting function runs through the county Equalization office, and the Planning & Zoning Board of Adjustment -- which meets at the McPherson County Courthouse in Leola -- handles variance applications and conditional-use permits. This is a genuinely more current ordinance baseline than many comparable rural South Dakota counties, whose zoning codes (where they exist at all) often date to a decade or more earlier.

That county process explicitly does not cover everything inside the county's borders, though: residents of the City of Leola or the City of Eureka must get their building permits from their respective city governments, not the county. A buyer should confirm whether a specific parcel sits inside one of those two incorporated cities or in unincorporated territory before assuming the county's Ordinance #2024-1 and its $3,000 permit threshold apply -- city rules could differ.

A long-running wind farm, a Hutterite colony, and a small, sparse population

McPherson County has hosted utility-scale wind energy longer than many South Dakota counties: the Tatanka Wind Farm, a 59-turbine project with an 88.5-megawatt generating capacity, began producing electricity in March 2008, years ahead of the cluster of wind projects sited in northeastern counties like Grant and Codington later in the 2010s. The county is also home to at least one Hutterite colony, Grassland Colony -- a communal agricultural community that owns and farms land collectively rather than through conventional individual ownership, a land-tenure model worth understanding if a parcel of interest borders or was previously part of colony-owned land.

McPherson County's population was 2,411 at the 2020 Census, one of the smaller and more sparsely populated counties in this batch, with its economy anchored in agriculture around the towns of Leola (the county seat) and Eureka. That small population and rural character mean county government offices are compact -- the same courthouse in Leola houses Equalization, Register of Deeds, and Planning & Zoning functions -- so a buyer's due diligence calls for zoning, permitting, tax, and title questions will generally route through a small set of county offices there.

Who to Call Before Buying Land in McPherson County

The McPherson County Planning & Zoning function and the Director of Equalization office appear to share the same phone number and email in county listings, consistent with a small county running both functions out of one office -- confirm which specific staff member to reach for a zoning-versus-tax question. We could not confirm a direct email for the Register of Deeds office, the exact wind-turbine setback distance in Ordinance #2024-1, or a comprehensive list of Hutterite colonies located in the county -- confirm all three directly with the county if relevant to a specific parcel.

Planning & Zoning

McPherson County Planning & Zoning / Equalization Office

Zoning district confirmation, building permits (rural county, Long Lake, Wetonka, Hillsview), variance and conditional-use applications.

Phone: (605) 439-3663Email: mcphersondoe@valleytel.netOfficial website →

Recorder / Clerk / Land Records

McPherson County Register of Deeds

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

Phone: (605) 439-3151Official website →

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Sources

  1. Planning & Zoning - McPherson County, South Dakota — McPherson County, South Dakota Government (accessed 2026-09)
  2. McPherson County Zoning Ordinance #2024-1 — McPherson County, South Dakota Government (accessed 2026-09)
  3. County Ordinances - McPherson County, South Dakota — McPherson County, South Dakota Government (accessed 2026-09)
  4. Register of Deeds - McPherson County, South Dakota — McPherson County, South Dakota Government (accessed 2026-09)
  5. McPherson County, South Dakota Register Of Deeds/Vital Records Dept — Claimspages.com (accessed 2026-09)
  6. Tatanka Wind Farm — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
  7. Tatanka (McPherson County), US — Power Technology (accessed 2026-09)
  8. Grassland Colony, South Dakota — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
  9. McPherson County, South Dakota — Wikipedia (cross-checked against U.S. Census Bureau data) (accessed 2026-09)

Last reviewed 2026-09