Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/02/2017

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Subpart 9. District boundaries. One shortcoming of Executive Order 79-19 is the static nature of the original four districts. The districts established in Executive Order 79-19 cannot be modified to reflect changes in the MRCCA over the last 35 years. This subpart establishes a process to amend district boundaries. A request to amend the boundaries of a district must meet the amendment criteria to ensure local and state review and to assure that an amendment decision balances resource protection and local control. During rule development, local governments strongly supported the creation of an administrative process to amend district boundaries. Because the physical boundaries of the districts are part of this rule, amendments to district boundaries would need to be made through rulemaking. Since this can be a cumbersome process for boundary adjustments, particularly minor boundary adjustments, the DNR intends to seek statutory changes to Minn. Stat. § 116G.15, to give it the authority to change boundaries by written order of the commissioner, or for expedited rulemaking pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 14.389. 6106.0110 Uses Subpart 1. Underlying zoning. This subpart provides that uses will generally be guided by a local government's underlying zoning, except for select land uses considered to have potential negative impacts on the MRCCA's resources. The Interim Development Regulations adopted under Executive Order 79-19, which were intended to guide local governments in creating their MRCCA ordinances, restricted a limited number of land uses considered to have potential negative resource impacts. For example, mining and extractive uses were allowed in most districts with screening, and commercial and industrial uses were allowed in all districts with some limitations (i.e., on the landward side of blufflines in urban open space districts). This subpart updates this list of uses to include: agricultural use, feedlots, forestry, aggregate mining and extraction, river -dependent uses, and wireless communication facilities. For these uses the proposed MRCCA rules provide specific standards and requirements to mitigate negative impacts. Subparts 2 and 3. Agricultural uses and feedlots. Agricultural uses have a significant potential to impact water quality. There are several areas of agricultural land use within the MRCCA, particularly in the northern and southern stretches of the corridor. Many studies have documented the value of perennial vegetation adjacent to water bodies in protecting water quality. It is also well documented that steeper slopes have a higher potential for erosion, and perennial vegetation can mitigate this erosion potential. (USDA Agricultural Handbook No. 703). To restrict agricultural runoff from moving into the river, this subpart requires perennial vegetation within the highly sensitive shore impact zone and bluff impact zone. The proposed rule is consistent with the state shoreland rules. Minn. R. 6120.3300, subp. 7 (2015). To protect water quality, the proposed rules prohibit new feedlots and manure storage areas within the MRCCA. Existing feedlots must conform to the permitting and design requirements of MPCA's feedlot program as set forth in Minn. R. Ch. 7020 (2015). Subpart 4. Forestry. Forestry activities, where permitted by underlying zoning, must follow current best management practices set forth in the DNR publication Conserving Wooded Areas in Developing Communities, incorporated by reference in proposed Minn. R. 6106.0090. This manual was developed by DNR and other stakeholders to encourage best management practices to conserve the ecological integrity and function of wooded areas, including habitat preservation, within communities as they are 44