Excited to be part of planning area’s future development
With nearly two weeks on the job now behind her, Hamilton County’s new planning and zoning director says she is excited to be a part of helping plan for the future of the area she and her husband adopted as home almost a year ago.
Melissa Barry began her duties on May 10 and has spent the last two weeks organizing and getting the lay of the land of her office on the second floor of the courthouse.
With regard to the lay of the actual land of Hamilton County, Barry has gotten a head start on that by working as a police and sheriff’s dispatcher since last summer. Having worked the past 13 years as a dispatcher in her home Jefferson County, Barry and her husband, Cory, moved here around July 1 of 2022 when he took a position as an Aurora police officer. She said her dispatch experience has helped her gain familiarity with the county through GPS maps and 911 addresses.
New to the planning and zoning world, however, Barry said she is leaning heavily on county administrative manager Scott Stuhr, whose office is right next door and who has extensive knowledge of the process.
“I’m usually in his office asking questions almost all day,” said Barry, adding, “He has been great!”
She said she has also reached out to the planning and zoning directors in nearby Clay and Adams counties to ask for their guidance and advice.
While the city of Aurora has its own planning office, Barry’s office oversees all zoning for Hamilton County as well as the villages of Giltner, Hampton, Hordville, Marquette, Phillips and Stockham.
Barry said this is an exciting time to be involved with planning and zoning because of the recent growth spurt the county has experienced with new subdivisions either going in or being planned in towns like Giltner, Phillips and Hampton.
“Hamilton County is going to be growing for a while,” Barry said. “I think a lot of people just want to move out of bigger cities like Grand Island and get into a smaller community or live out in the country. We see a lot of new houses going up out in the country, too.”
The Barry family got to experience some of that growth first hand when they bought a house in the new subdivision at Phillips and had to wait until October to move in.
“Phillips is great,” she said, “Not too big; not too small. You’re 10 minutes to Grand Island and 10 minutes to Aurora.”
Aided by her dispatching experience, Barry said she brings several skills to her new job such as the ability to multitask well.
“Obviously working in law enforcement, I prioritize well,” she said, “It’s not life or death here, so it’s obviously a little different in this line of work, but I communicate well with the public and I’ve been doing that for a while.”
Barry said she is most excited about being involved in the future of the community and getting to know the people of Hamilton County.
“I had a planning and zoning meeting last night,” she said, “so I got to meet everybody. Just being involved in the community, I’m excited for that.”
Barry’s primary responsibility will be to administer and enforce zoning regulations in the county. Her office issues zoning permits, processes applications, complaints and violations, issues new county 911 addresses and interprets the zoning regulations.
The Planning and Zoning Department also schedules all public hearings for the Joint Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Adjustment and the governing bodies for issues pertaining to zoning.
She will also act as the floodplain administrator and is responsible for the Community Map Repository and all issues pertaining to floodplain and floodplain development permits within Hamilton County and the villages of Giltner, Hampton, Marquette and Stockham zoning jurisdiction.