Rapid City City Council Meeting - July 21, 2026
Rapid City City Council Meeting - July 21, 2026
Note: The transcript indicates the meeting occurred on Monday, July 20, 2026, but the provided ISO date is 2026-07-21T00:29:02+00:00. This summary uses the provided date.
The Rapid City City Council convened on July 20, 2026, beginning with roll call, invocation, and pledge. The meeting covered consent agenda items, non-consent items including a controversial reasonable accommodation ordinance, and demolition contracts for the Star Village mobile home park.
Public Comments & Testimony
- General Public Comment: Several citizens addressed the council on non-agenda items. Mark Millar urged the city to build a permanent shelter at Denver Field for volunteer groups feeding the unsheltered. William Wagner raised concerns about conditional use permits (CUPs) and TIF districts. Mark Thalaker spoke about religious references in the meeting and the Pledge of Allegiance's history. Patty Martinson criticized the city's social media post celebrating a new correctional facility. Angelo Schiraldi requested information from the finance director about a fire incident.
- Ordinance 6726 (Reasonable Accommodation) Public Hearing:
- Megan Wilson, a neighbor of an Oxford House, expressed frustration with lack of transparency and argued the ordinance removes neighborhood involvement and notification. She questioned why Oxford House needs an exemption when Black Hills Works complies with existing codes.
- Tammy Hopp (Black Hills Works) supported the ordinance, stating it provides an administrative procedure without public hearings, which under federal law could lead to liability if opposition is discriminatory.
- Jerry Zacharias, a resident of Terracita Drive for 34 years, opposed granting a conditional use permit for the Oxford House, emphasizing the neighborhood's single-family residential character.
- Kathy Minick, who filed the original complaint, asked for more accountability and transparency. She raised concerns about occupancy limits and safety reviews being left to a single official.
- Marqui Zacharias expressed concerns about the ordinance's timing and perceived conflict of interest involving Councilor Temang, who owns the Oxford House property. She urged a pause.
- Marlo Kapsa (city planning projects manager/ADA coordinator) supported the ordinance as a step forward for disability rights, noting that disability can affect anyone at any time.
Consent Calendar
- The council adopted the agenda with a change: items 23, 24, and 25 (Star Village) were moved from consent to non-consent. Items 1 through 28 were approved with the exception of item 18 (Business Improvement District assessment), which was continued for two weeks due to publication error. Items 31 and 32 were approved separately.
Discussion Items
Ordinance 6726 – Reasonable Accommodation Procedure
- Council discussion followed public testimony. Community Development Director Vicky Fisher explained the ordinance's necessity to comply with federal Fair Housing Act and ADA. She noted that the proposal was in development since 2024 but accelerated after a complaint about a home owned by Councilor Temang. She offered a friendly amendment to require dual approval from the community development director and deputy city attorney.
- Councilors Maher and Evans expressed concerns about the speed of the process and lack of neighbor notification. Councilor Roberts emphasized legal necessity but supported more discussion. Councilor Strowman moved to continue the item for one month to allow for further refinement and community input. The motion passed with a second by Roberts.
Star Village Demolition Contracts (Items 23-25)
- Councilor Temang delivered a strong statement criticizing Zadiq Management, the property owner, for failing to meet obligations, accumulating delinquent utilities, and maintaining professional lobbying representation while residents faced unsafe conditions. He declared he would not support leniency.
- Councilor Meyer added that Zadiq missed multiple deadlines for removing structures and highlighted high crime rates at Star Village: 105 violent crimes in 2025, and 59 at another Zadiq property.
- Community Development Director Fisher reported that 18 demolition permits were submitted but 10 were still pending. The council approved three contracts for demolition: with MMI LLC ($45,849) and HC LLC ($49,800), and a general contract for structure removal. All motions passed unanimously.
Rezoning and Other Items
- Item 30 (rezoning near Sturgis Road) was approved.
- Items 33-38 (rezone requests for industrial and commercial districts near Mall Drive) were approved, with one councilor (Roberts) opposing item 38 due to a "chicken" issue.
- Item 39 (bills for Main Street Square and Visit Rapid City, $55,700.07) and item 40 (remaining bills, $10,403,235.35) were approved with one abstention on item 39.
Key Outcomes
- Item 18 (Business Improvement District assessment) continued for two weeks.
- Ordinance 6726 continued for one month to the second council meeting in August for further revision and stakeholder engagement.
- Star Village demolition contracts approved unanimously; council directed staff to proceed while property owner works on demolition permits.
- All other votes passed with majority support.
The meeting adjourned shortly after 10:29 PM UTC (approximate).
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome to the city council meeting for Monday, July twentieth, twenty twenty-six. We will begin with a roll call and determination of quorum. Lehman Maher Roberts Strowman Armstrong Curris Beaverdorf. Temang here. Evans Meyer. Here we have a quorum. Uh, thank you. Next we'll have an invocation by Pastor Rob Bray, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Bray, are you here? Okay, otherwise we'll have a moment of silence. So if you're able and willing, would you please rise? I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. Going to Councilman Temang as soon as his power. All right, Councilman Timang, we're up. Thank you, Councillor Sherman. Before we move to adopt the agenda, uh, Counselor Timang is chiming in Mr. Mayor. Uh, per the request of the legal department. Um, items regarding um Star Village should be moved to non-consent. Some could help me with those numbers. Twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-five, please. I guess that's a motion. Okay. Stand by. We're gonna uh get the actual numbers here. Kinsley. Kinsley, can we make it thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty can we add numbers, or is it thirty A, thirty B, thirty C move to non-consent. Maybe we'll do okay. We'll keep those numbers maybe the same, but is that of order? All right. So we have a request just for everybody knows. Uh we have a request to move items to 23, 24, and 25 from the consent calendar to the non-consent items. We will do that after item 30 on the non-consent calendar. So I'll make a note to myself here. Okay. With that, uh, do we have a motion to adopt the agenda with that change? Thank you. Motion by Maher, second by C Chris. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. Uh, next we'll move on to general public comment. Uh, this is a time for members of the public to discuss or express concerns to the council on any issue not on the agenda. Action will not be taken at the meeting on any issue, not on the agenda, except by placement on the agenda by unanimous vote of the council members present. We have a three-minute time limit. We have the timer right above us here, if that helps you, and we will begin with Mitch Richter. Or Mitch, you're excuse me, Mitch. You're here for the non-consent items, excuse me. Mark Millar, followed by William Wagner.
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