Enabling statute

South Dakota

South Dakota Codified Laws, Title 11 (Planning, Zoning and Housing Programs) — Chapter 11-2 (County Planning and Zoning) and Chapter 11-4 (Municipal Zoning), tracing to the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act

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Summary

South Dakota follows the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act model, delegating zoning power to local governments rather than exercising it at the state level. Counties receive zoning authority through S.D. Codified Laws Chapter 11-2 (County Planning and Zoning): § 11-2-13 empowers the board of county commissioners to adopt a zoning ordinance to regulate building height, lot coverage, open space, population density, and the use of buildings and land for the purpose of promoting health, safety, or general welfare. Municipalities receive parallel authority through Chapter 11-4 (Municipal Zoning): § 11-4-1 grants the municipal governing body the same regulatory powers, and § 11-4-2 authorizes division of the municipality into uniform districts. The grant language in both chapters is nearly identical and tracks the 1920s SSZEA template, so zoning power in South Dakota is held concurrently by counties (over unincorporated areas) and by cities/towns (within their limits).

The delegation

§ 11-2-13. Adoption of zoning ordinance. For the purpose of promoting health, safety, or the general welfare of the county the board may adopt a zoning ordinance to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of the yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density of population, and the location and use of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, flood plain, or other purposes. § 11-2-12. Purposes of comprehensive county plan. The comprehensive plan shall be for the purpose of protecting and guiding the physical, social, economic, and environmental development of the county; to protect the tax base; to encourage a distribution of population or mode of land utilization that will facilitate the economical and adequate provisions of transportation, roads, water supply, drainage, sanitation, education, recreation, or other public requirements; to lessen governmental expenditure; and to conserve and develop natural resources. § 11-4-1. Regulatory powers of municipality. For the purpose of promoting health, safety, or the general welfare of the community the governing body of any municipality may regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures; the percentage of lot that may be occupied; the size of the yards, courts, and other open spaces; the density of population; and the location and use of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, flood plain, or other purposes. A municipality may enter into an agreement with any landowner specifying the conditions under which the landowner's property may be developed. § 11-4-2. Division of municipality into districts--District regulations--Uniformity within district. For any or all of said purposes the governing body may divide the municipality into districts of such number, shape, and area as may be deemed best suited to carry out the purposes of this chapter; and within such districts it may regulate and restrict the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, or use of buildings, structures, or land. All such regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of buildings throughout each district, but the regulations in one district may differ from those in other districts.

Verification

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Verified against the official South Dakota Legislature statute API (sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/Statute/<sec>), which returns current statute text. (a) Citations are real and current: - SDCL 11-2-13, catchline "Adoption of zoning ordinance." Text: "For the purpose of promoting health, safety, or the general welfare of the county the board may adopt a zoning ordinance to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of the yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density of population, and the location and use of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, flood plain, or other purposes." Source: SL 1941 ch 216 §2; SDC Supp 1960 §12.20A02; SL 1967 ch 20; SL 2000 ch 69 §4. (Chapter 11-2 = County Planning and Zoning.) - SDCL 11-4-1, catchline "Regulatory powers of municipality." Text grants the governing body of any municipality the identical SSZEA list of powers (health/safety/general welfare; height/stories/size of buildings; percentage of lot; yards/courts/open spaces; density of population; location and use of buildings/structures/land). Source: SDC 1939 §45.2601; later amendments through SL 2004. - SDCL 11-4-2, catchline "Division of municipality into districts--District regulations--Uniformity within district." Authorizes dividing the municipality into districts and requires uniformity within each district. Source: SL 1927 ch 176 §2; SDC 1939 §45.2602. (b) These are genuinely the zoning enabling authority, not unrelated/repealed. Title 11 is "Planning, Zoning and Housing Programs." The grant language is the classic Standard State Zoning Enabling Act (SSZEA) formulation, and the source notes (SL 1927/SDC 1939 for municipal; SL 1941 for county) confirm 1920s-40s SSZEA-era origin. A current county zoning ordinance (Codington County Ord. #65) expressly states the Legislature "in SDCL Chapter 11-2 delegated" zoning power to counties, corroborating that Ch. 11-2 is the operative county enabling authority. (c) authority_model "county_and_municipal" is accurate: counties enable via Ch. 11-2 (board of county commissioners over unincorporated areas), municipalities via Ch. 11-4 (municipal governing body within city/town limits), with near-identical grant language. South Dakota delegates zoning to local governments; no state-level zoning. The claimed section-by-section description (11-2-13 county grant, 11-4-1 municipal grant, 11-4-2 districting/uniformity) matches the actual statute text precisely. Note: Justia/LawServer were 403/307-blocked; verification relied on the authoritative state API and a county ordinance citation.