1. A.
   Title

   1. 1.
      These regulations will be known as, and may be referred to as, the "Manhattan Development Code," or "MDC" and will be referred to herein as "the Chapter" or "this Chapter".
   2. 2.
      All references to “this Chapter” hereinafter means Chapter 26 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Manhattan.
2. B.

   Hierarchy

   1. 1.

      This Chapter is divided into Articles, Divisions, Sections, subsections, paragraphs, and subparagraphs. Subsequent levels may be used but are not named.

   2. 2.

      The reference format used throughout this Chapter is as shown in Table 26-1A-1.1, References.

   3. 3.

      A phrasal reference, such as “this Article” or “this Division” or “this Section”, and so forth, means within the same Article or Division or Section (and so forth) where such a reference appears.

1. Manhattan Development Code. This Chapter combines the zoning regulations of the City of Manhattan and the subdivision regulations of the Manhattan Urban Area.
   1. Zoning Regulations. The provisions of this Chapter pertaining to zoning regulations are recommended by the Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board, hereinafter, Planning Board, and adopted by the City Commission, pursuant to state statutes.
   2. Subdivision Regulations. The provisions of this Chapter pertaining to the subdivision of land—specifically, Article 26-5 and Division 26-9C—are adopted by the Planning Board, and approved by the Board of Riley County Commissioners, Kansas, and the Manhattan City Commission, pursuant to the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Manhattan and Riley County, dated February 6, 2001, as amended.
2. Interpretation. Where the requirements of this Chapter impose restrictions that differ from those requirements imposed by any other provision of this Chapter or any other statute, ordinance, regulation, resolution, or other provision of law, then the provision that imposes the higher or more restrictive standard will apply.

1. Zoning and Land Use Regulations
   1. Implement the Manhattan Urban Area Comprehensive Plan, together with other adopted plans (see also Sec. 26-1B-1, Consistency with Plans).
   2. Preserve and improve the public health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens and businesses of Manhattan and its urban area.
   3. Provide for the efficient and conservative use of land and public resources.
   4. Protect and enable walking and bicycling as viable modes of transportation.
   5. Provide for adequate privacy; to secure safety from fire, flood, and other danger.

   6. Provide reasonable standards of development without infringing on the laws of the United States or Kansas, or the rights guaranteed by their constitutions.

   7. Coordinate regulations and processes with Riley and Pottawatomie Counties to streamline development approvals and to manage the pattern and sustainability of urban development, as well as the preservation of the Flint Hills and the rural agricultural landscape.

   8. Protect the mission of Fort Riley through local implementation of the Joint Land Use Study (JLUS).

   9. Work with Kansas State University (KSU) to address common interests related to student housing, multi-modal transportation, and ongoing University development.

   10. Establish districts and applicable standards to enable efficient development patterns, including by-right mixed-use development.

   11. Provide good standards and efficient processes for the redevelopment of property or infill development on vacant or underutilized tracts.

   12. Provide regulations pertaining to pre-existing lots, structures, and uses, which do not conform to the regulations and standards established by this Chapter.

   13. Promote, in the public interest, the utilization of land for the purposes it is most desirable and best adapted for.

   14. Preserve and enhance the character and integrity of established neighborhoods, and the compatibility, affordability, and quality of housing within them.

   15. Enhance the visual appearance and attractiveness of the City through reasonable regulation of site and building design.

   16. Conserve natural resources and promote responsible development patterns and practices.

   17. Preserve, enhance, and protect the special character of the City's historic districts and other areas of cultural, scenic, or architectural importance.
   18. Provide for efficient and fair development approval procedures that respect property rights and ensure quality development.
   19. Ensure that development within the areas impacted by the Manhattan Regional Airport are compatible with the functions and operations of the airport.

2. Historic Preservation

   1. Provide a mechanism to identify and conserve the distinctive historic and architectural characteristics and other historic resources of the City which represent elements of the City's cultural, social, economic, political and architectural heritage.

   2. Foster civic pride in the accomplishments of the past as represented in the City's historic resources.

   3. Conserve and improve the value of property in and around designated historic properties, historic districts, and neighborhoods within the community.

   4. Enhance the attractiveness of the City to residents, current and prospective homeowners, visitors and shoppers and thereby supporting and promoting business, commerce, industry, and providing economic benefit to the City.

   5. Encourage preservation, restoration, and rehabilitation of historic properties within the City.

3. Land Subdivision

   1. Require that each subdivision provides building sites that are reasonably safe from damage from any flood source, whether the source risks a one percent chance of flooding in any given year or causes any other risk of flood damage or loss.

   2. Coordinate the development of each parcel of land with the existing community and to facilitate the proper development of adjoining land.

   3. Establish reasonable standards of layout and procedures for subdivisions and re-subdivisions, to provide adequate and accurate records of all land subdivision, and to ensure proper legal descriptions and monumentation of subdivided land.
   4. Provide for a reasonable relationship between the uses of land and buildings and the circulation of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles throughout the Manhattan Urban Area, having particular regard for safe and efficient travel, and to provide for the proper location and width of streets and building lines.
   5. Guide public policy and private action to provide adequate and efficient transportation, water, sewage, schools, parks, playgrounds, recreation, emergency services, and other public requirements and facilities for proposed subdivisions.
   6. Provide that the cost of improvements which primarily benefit the tract of land being developed be borne by the owner of the tract, and that the cost of improvements which primarily benefit the whole community, be shared by the owner and the community.
   7. Establish subdivision standards that provide for an efficient utilization of land, including the protection and preservation of sensitive natural resources.

1. Geographic Applicability. This Chapter applies to structures and land in the City of Manhattan. All property within the City will comply with all applicable provisions of this Chapter.
2. Intergovernmental Cooperation. In accordance with state statutes, the City has entered into an inter-local agreement with the Board of Riley County Commissioners to establish the Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board to conduct coordinated planning activities within the Board’s jurisdictional boundary, which includes the City and the urbanizing fringe around the City.
3. Applicability of Subdivision Regulations. Because of the inter-local agreement between the City of Manhattan and the Board of Riley County Commissioners, the subdivision regulations of this Chapter apply to:
   1. The subdivision of land located within the City and that portion of the Manhattan Urban Area outside the City.
   2. The subdivision or development of land subject to a cooperative agreement with any other city or county pursuant to state statutes.
4. Kansas State University. In Ordinance no. 4863, passed by the Governing Body on June 21, 1994, the City and Kansas State University (KSU) have established and agreed to the applicability of certain City ordinances on real estate owned by KSU
5. Fort Riley State Area of Interest. The City is committed to communicating, cooperating, and collaborating with personnel at Fort Riley to minimize potential impacts of incompatible growth on the mission of the installation, or impacts that the training activities on post may have on the citizens of Manhattan.
   1. Memorandum of Understanding. This commitment to communication, cooperation and collaboration was formalized by the signing of the "Memorandum of Understanding Between Fort Riley, Kansas, and Municipalities Adjacent to or Surrounding Fort Riley, Kansas" in 2015 (MOU). The MOU represents the parties' intent to follow specific procedures to proactively communicate and inform each other of planning and development activities in the surrounding communities and on the post, in addition to changes in military operations by it.
   2. Flint Hills–Fort Riley Joint Land Use Study. The region surrounding the Fort Riley military installation participated in the Flint Hills–Fort Riley Joint Land Use Study (JLUS). The most recent JLUS update provides the applicable maps defining various noise contours and flight areas and the Critical Area. The MOU establishes the Critical Area surrounding Fort Riley that the Army installation and the surrounding communities must monitor to reduce potential conflicts between the military operations and the economic well-being of the region.

1. Generally. No land, building, or structure will be developed or substantially improved except in accordance with this Chapter. Where there is a conflict between different standards that each pertain in a given situation, the more restrictive standard will apply.
2. Applicability to Publicly Owned Property. This Chapter is applicable to land owned by public agencies and organizations to the full extent allowed under the United States and Kansas Constitutions, and the laws of each, with the exception of those items listed in 26-1A-5C.
3. Exemptions. The following are exempt from the requirements of this Chapter:
   1. Any device used in the collection of sewage or surface water operated or maintained by a public utility, but not including substations located on or above the surface of the ground.
   2. Utility poles, which are utilized solely for the support of electrical, telephone, cable television, or similar cables and wires, located on public rights-of-way or easements for that purpose, and are part of a system of such poles throughout the City.
   3. Wireless telecommunication towers and other facilities utilized for the transmission of signals that do not constitute personal wireless telecommunication services.
   4. Short-wave radio towers that are owned and operated by a federally-licensed amateur radio station;
   5. Antennas considered residential antennas under Para. 26-2E-12B-2.
   6. Railroad tracks, signals, bridges, and similar facilities and equipment used in the operation of the railroad and located on railroad rights-of-way.
   7. Refer to Subsec. 26-5A-3B for subdivision exemptions.

1. Applicability. A decision-maker may not issue a permit or other approval pursuant to this Chapter, or any zoning or subdivision regulations in effect before the effective date of this Chapter, on the basis of vested rights unless the provisions of this Section apply. To the extent that the state or federal law in effect on the date of any application for development or substantial improvement is inconsistent with this Section, the provisions of the state or federal law apply, and the applicable decision-maker may issue a permit consistent with the law in effect at that time.
2. Vesting, generally. The right to use land for a particular purpose vests if all permits required for that use are issued by the City, construction has begun, and substantial amounts of work have been completed under a valid permit.
3. Pending Ordinances. No building permit will be issued after notice is published concerning a proposed amendment to this Chapter, unless the request complies with both the existing regulations and zoning classification and the proposed amendments. An amendment to this Chapter includes any amendment to the zoning classification of a specific piece of property.
4. Validity of Final Plats. This Chapter will not affect the validity of a final plat approved by the Planning Board prior to the effective date of this Chapter, and properly recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds of Riley or Pottawatomie County within 12 months from the date of approval. Any subdivision for which a final plat has not been approved by the Planning Board prior to the effective date of this Chapter must comply with this Chapter, even if a preliminary plat was approved under the prior subdivision regulations.
5. Pre-Existing Lots. A lot of record platted prior to the effective date of this Chapter may be built upon according to the development standards of the district in which the lot is located.

The provisions of this Chapter are severable in accordance with the following legal principles:

1. Invalid Application to Certain Property. If any court of component jurisdiction declares the application of any provision of this Chapter to not apply to a particular property or structure such judgment does not affect the application of this Chapter to any other property or structure nor will the provision affected be stricken from this Chapter as a whole.
2. Invalid as Unconstitutional. If any court of component jurisdiction declares any portion of this Chapter to be invalid or unconstitutional, such ruling does not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this Chapter. The affected provision would however be deemed stricken from this Chapter.
3. Signs and Content-Neutrality. If any court of component jurisdiction declares any portion of this Chapter to be invalid or unconstitutional on the basis that a provision of this Chapter was content based, then all signs that would be subject to the stricken provision will instead be subject to the next surviving provision for a sign of comparable geometry and character that is more restrictive than the stricken provision in terms of sign area and sign height.

The enactment of this Chapter repeals the Manhattan Zoning Regulations, as amended and re-established, December 17, 2019, by Ordinance No. 7470, and the Manhattan Urban Area Subdivision Regulations, as amended on September 2, 2003, by Ordinance No. 6357, each in their entirety, and replaces them by Ordinance No. 7560, hereafter titled the City of Manhattan Development Code (MDC), which was adopted by the City Commission on December 7, 2021, and which became effective on January 1, 2022. This has been amended by subsequent ordinances, the latest being Ordinance No. 7804, adopted December 16, 2025; effective December 20, 2025.

(Ord. No. 7575, 05/17/2022; Ord. No. 7627, 02/07/2023; Ord. No. 7649, 06/05/2023; Ord. No. 7677, 12/05/2023; Ord. No. 7715, 09/17/2024; Ord. No. 7737, 01/14/2025; Ord. No. 7753, 05/20/2025; Ord. No. 7757, 06/03/2025; Ord. No. 7794, 11/18/2025; Ord. No. 7804, 12/16/2025)  

Within three months of annexation, the annexed territory should be rezoned to a zoning district established pursuant to this chapter. If no petition for the rezoning of annexed territory is made within three months of annexation, then the City may initiate rezoning to the Land Reserve (LR) district.

(Ord. No. 7677, 12/05/2023; Ord. No. 7753, 05/20/2025)

This Chapter implements the goals, objectives, and policies adopted for the City, as reflected in the Comprehensive Plan, adopted transportation plans, and other adopted planning documents. While the City reaffirms its commitment that this Chapter will conform to adopted planning policies, the City expresses its intent that no provision of this Chapter may be challenged merely on the basis of an alleged nonconformity with the Comprehensive Plan or other planning policy.

The responsible Governing Body will not be obligated for the expenditure of any funds whatsoever, under and pursuant to the terms of this Chapter, unless and until the responsible Governing Body has approved such expenditure by a majority vote. All costs connected with annexation, rezoning, subdivision, land development, preparation of engineering studies and plans, surveying, preparation of petitions, etc., required as a part of this Chapter will be paid for by the owner and in no case will any part or requirement of this Chapter imply any obligation of the responsible Governing Body to expend funds.