Receive Update on Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA) Revised Rules

The purpose of this case is to receive an update to the newly adopted Revised Rules for the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA). The rules have been adopted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The City must incorporate the revised rules into City Code. This is intended to be a brief update, not an in depth analysis of the revised rules.

Notification is not required.

Please see the attached documents for background. Staff will provide a summarized presentation at the meeting.

The City will need to complete the following actions:

1. Update Comprehensive Plan
2. Update Zoning Code

While the act of amending our City Code is relatively simple, the DNR requirements in updating the Comprehensive Plan is a bit more in depth and requires certain study. Staff anticipates these two steps, when also including Public Comment and DNR/Metropolitan Council review, will take upwards of twelve (12) months from authorization to proceed.

Staff understands the complexity of this process. With that in mind, this process is being presented in smaller, more manageable steps. This step is intended to introduce the topic to the City Council and see where additional focus is needed before proceeding with next steps.

This case is being handled as part of normal Staff duties.

No action is being requested on the rules themselves. Staff does recommend that the City Council provide policy direction on how to handle requests for land use approval until the City is able to update its Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code. The Planning Commission recommended that a Variance or a Planned Unit Development (PUD) is appropriate in instances where a proposed project meets the revised State Rules, until such time the City is able to update its Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code. This was based on feedback from DNR Staff.

No action is being requested at this time.