Agenda - Council - 03/10/2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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and re -development of the region. Local comprehensive plans and plan amendments that have substantial impacts on - or contain substantial departures from - the metropolitan wastewater system plan affect how the Council constructs, operates, and maintains the regional wastewater system and can result in system inefficiencies if the nonconforming plans are allowed to be implemented. Substantial impact or departures may result either from over -utilization or under - utilization. Over -utilization occurs when local development will use more regional capacity than currently is available or planned. Under -utilization occurs when low-density development uses less than currently available or planned regional capacity. Under -utilization is likely to require additional infrastructure elsewhere in the region to accommodate household growth that would be reasonably expected in the local governmental unit. As permitted by Minnesota Statutes section 473.175, subdivision 1, the Council may require a local governmental unit to modify any comprehensive plan or part thereof that is inconsistent with the metropolitan system plan if the Council concludes that the local plan is more likely than not to have either a substantial impact on, or to contain a substantial departure from, the Council's adopted policy plans and capital budgets for metropolitan wastewater service. Inconsistencies will provide the Council with grounds for requiring modifications to the local comprehensive plan. A substantial system impact occurs under various scenarios, including when: • The regional wastewater system was not designed to provide wastewater service for the proposed sewer service area; or • The projected flow from the sewer service area is greater than planned; or • The timing for the proposed growth is prior to implementation of a planned improvement to, and greater than what can be accommodated by, the regional wastewater system; or • The peak wet -weather flows from the local government unit exceeds its designed capacity within the regional wastewater system, and thus there is inadequate capacity to accommodate the planned growth for the local government unit or tributary local governmental units. A substantial departure occurs when: • A local governmental unit proposes forecasts for sewered development densities that are lower than Council density standards that are the basis for regional infrastructure planning purposes; or • When a local government unit proposes densities that exceed Council policy for unsewered areas that are within the long-term regional wastewater service area, thus precluding future economical sewered development. 45