Zoning Ordinance Revision

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

By unanimous vote of the County Board on March 22, 2011, Crow Wing County achieved a substantial and unprecedented overhaul of its Land Use Ordinance. The new ordinance establishes innovative performance standards as a regulatory approach to protecting natural resources in one of Minnesota’s premier lake areas. Central to these site-specific performance standards are requirements for managing stormwater runoff on individual riparian lots based on the levels of impervious surface of each lot. With 79 fewer pages than the previous law, the new ordinance also rooted out repetition, ambiguities and gaps in the previous ordinance, making it more reader-friendly to ordinary citizens. Ineffective, unnecessary regulations were also eliminated. The ordinance revision process embraced a unique public comment process established by the County Board in 2008. Over 140 days, more than 100 written comments were submitted by a broad spectrum of interested citizens. The process also included an innovative collaboration with state officials and private sector land use experts.