New Zoning Ordinance

Ordinance No. 08-22 amending the City’s Zoning Ordinance Text and Map was adopted by City Council on November 28, 2022 and went into effect January 5, 2023. Minnesota Statutes §473.864 and §473.865 of the Metropolitan Land Planning Act requires the City to review its official controls and amend, as necessary, any that conflict with the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The statutes also require that the zoning map be consistent with the land use map.

What is Zoning?

Zoning is the prime tool for implementing the Comprehensive Plan. By controlling land uses and setting development standards throughout the city, zoning can guide development. Zoning also sets standards for long developed areas and can be a very helpful neighborhood preservation tool. Zoning standards for building setbacks, building height, parking, screening, permitted activities, etc. help to ensure that people do not have costs imposed upon them by their neighbors. Zoning makes it possible to create transitional land use patterns so that incompatible uses are separated and buffered and harsh face-to-face relationships are avoided. Zoning is also utilized to protect development from flooding and to assure safe and adequate traffic flow.

Highlights of the new zoning ordinance include:

  • Unnecessary language and inconsistencies eliminated to make the ordinance easier to read and understand
  • Agritourism added as a conditional use permit in the R, Rural District
  • BC, Business Campus and R-5, High Density Residential and Commercial added as new zoning districts
  • Rural cluster developments standards created
  • Broader range of uses related to alcoholic beverages such as brew pub, brewer taproom, microbrewery/small brewer, microdistillery/ small distillery and winery/cider mill (includes meadery) defined
  • Curb cut/driveway width increased from 26 feet to 28 feet wide. – A Zoning Permit is required.
  • For new construction, all dwellings shall have a garage that is a min. of 20 ft in width and has a minimum footprint of 520 sq. ft.
  • One (1) tool shed not to exceed a footprint of 120 sq. ft. is allowed. The tool shed does not count towards the total number of allowed accessory buildings, or the total allowed building footprint. – A Zoning Permit is required.