Civic Engagement Rewind

Crowds are not beating down the doors of city hall to sign up for the volunteer spots available with the city.  There are still two volunteer commission spots open: one on the Charter Commission, and most recently, a spot on the Joint Planning Commission (JPC) came open. I blogged about volunteer opportunities last month. On Monday, the council will approve an appointment to the HPC. And now a city appointee to the JPC has resigned, leaving a new opening.

 [2009 RDG Downtown Plan]

The JPC is a twelve-member commission that advises the Joint Planning Board on planning and zoning applications.  They meet monthly on the fourth Thursday of the month and occasionally for special meetings. This is the only city commission that is paid--$50 per meeting--and has interesting work to do. The application process is online here.

Let's Make a Deal, Round 3: South Shore Application on JPB Agenda

The Edgewater Group representative, Rich Siegert will make his case for an amendment to the South Shore Planned Unit Development to the Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board when they meet on Wednesday, March 10.  The meeting is at 6:00pm at City Hall.  This is Siegert's third appearance before the JPB, after having presented twice in February.

His application would allow him to build a new hotel attached to the Green Mill. (Read my original post on the project.)  The muddle has been caused by local MN DNR opposition to shoreland setbacks requested in his proposal.  After Siegert's last appearance before the JPB, and under threat of legal action against the JPB by the DNR, he was instructed to meet with the DNR to find a workable solution that both sides could support. He met with DNR officials, the planning administrator and the JPB legal council for more than two hours last week. 

The state has given the DNR responsibility to develop shoreland guidelines through model ordinances, but has assigned responsibility to local governments for ordinance adoption, administration and enforcement.  The variance process is an administrative/enforcement issue and should be left to the local governing body (LGU), the Joint Planning Board. while finding a compromise makes sense, the DNR should let the LGU decide the issue. A recent Supreme Court ruling on a similar issue on the St. Croix River affirmed the enforcement role of the LGU and the attorneys in the case explained it in an editorial in today's Star Tribune.

It will be interesting to see if an agreement has been struck and how the JPB handles the issue. You can tune in to see the outcome; the meeting is televised on Channel 2.

Also on the agenda, a public hearing for the semi-annual Ordinance update, which can be found here; and changes to the fee schedule.  Here is the old (2009) fee schedule. (I can't find the proposed fee schedule changes online; one can only assume that some fees are going up!)

DNR Influence in Local Decision-making: Could MN Supreme Court Ruling Have Local Impact?

While most readers were focused on the Governor's State of the State address in last Friday's (2/12/10) Star Tribune, I was interested in another story that addressed development along the St. Croix River.

The Minnesota supreme Court sided with the City of Lakeland and the property owner in a variance request that had been approved by the city. The MN DNR had opposed the variance request. The court ruled that " the state agency (MN DNR) had no authority to deny Lakeland's approval of a "setback variance" governing how (Ron) Hubbard would build his house."

"We've pushed this because we've seen so many people bullied up and down the river by the DNR," Hubbard said. "Most people can't afford to fight them."

The DNR has weighed in on a similar issue in Bemidji. The Edgewater Group has requested an amendment to the South Shore Planned Unit Development (PUD). It includes a variance to the setback on the Group's property. The amendment is needed because the development proposes buildings that connect across property lines that are outside the PUD. The amendment will bring all the properties into the PUD. (The entire South Shore Development Plan and Guidelines can be downloaded by section here.)

The Planning Commission recommended approval of the change in January; it was sent to the Joint Planning Board and heard at their February 10th meeting. In between the two meetings, the local DNR sent a letter opposing the change and threatened legal action against the JPB if they approve the variance. The Board postponed their decision to February 25th so their legal council could respond.

The proposal for the PUD amendment was worked out jointly among the developer, JPB staff and City staff after consultation with both the city's and JPB's legal advisers. It represents a reasonable and responsible approach to the proposed development that respects the spirit and intent of the current PUD.

No one can envision all of the potential scenarios that might occur during development and the current dilemma could not have been predicted. But that is why the zoning ordinance, unlike the rest of our laws, has a built-in process for change. Namely, the variance and amendment processes.

State enabling law vests local jurisdictions with the ability to create and administer local zoning regulations. The DNR has jurisdiction over public waters that extends to the shoreland through the state shoreland regulations. However, local staff, planning commission members and policy-makers--the JPB, in this case--should have the ability to thoughtfully assess the merits of local projects and "vary" the rules without the heavy-handed intrusion of the DNR. Apparently, the MN Supreme Court thinks so too.

The Devil is in the Details

Parents know that having rules and setting limits is a good idea. The challenge is making rules that work. The same can be said for communities.

The land use ordinance is a set of rules that helps us get the kind of community we want. And just like family rules, the details are what makes the ordinance successful. Ultimately, our community reflects the rules;
both when they work


and when they don't.


Fine tuning the details of our local ordinance happens twice a year. If you have ever said, "If I made the rules . . . ." your chance is at hand. The semi-annual ordinance review is currently underway. The review is an opportunity to "fix" mistakes and make changes that better-serve the community.

In the Bemidji area, we adopted an entirely new set of rules in 2007 when joint planning was born. The Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board (JPB) is the local government unit (LGU) responsible for all planning and zoning for three jurisdictions. The JPB was created in 2007 when Northern Township, Bemidji Township, and the City of Bemidji signed an orderly annexation agreement and agreed to combine planning efforts. The JPB planning staff administers and enforces the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance.

The Zoning Ordinance sets out the land use rules for what can happen, where it can happen and to what extent it can happen. The Subdivision Ordinance is essentially the set of regulations for dividing property into parcels and sets rules to answer questions like: how large/small will lots be? where will runoff go? how will the streets be designed? what is the impact to trees, wetlands, surrounding properties? will there be parkland dedication?

A good background in the planning process in Minnesota is presented in the 2002 manual Under Construction . (It was prepared by MN PLanning, a state agency that disappeared in the 2003 administrative reorganization and budget cuts; it was folded into the Department of Administration.)

Authority for planning is granted to subordinate governments from the State. Townships, counties and municipalities are authorized to adopt plans and exercise various growth management and comprehensive planning tools.

• 1939: Authorized townships to plan and regulate land use
• 1959: Authorized counties to adopt planning tools and land use controls
• 1965 Authorized cities to adopt planning tools and land use controls

Community members can view the proposed updates by logging on to the Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning homepage and clicking on "What's New." You can download a file of the suggested changes and be prepared to comment on them when public input is accepted at the next Joint Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, February 26 at City Hall.