Section 15. Sl Shoreland District 1

SECTION 15. SL SHORELAND DISTRICT[1]

Subdivision 1. Findings.

The City finds that the uncontrolled use of shorelands adversely affects the public health, safety, and general welfare by contributing to pollution of Public Waters and by impairing the local tax base.

Subdivision 2. Authority.

The legislature of the State of Minnesota has, in Minnesota Statutes, directed that municipalities with shorelands adopt regulations which comply with State Standards for Municipal Shoreland Management. In furtherance of the policies declared in Minnesota Statutes, section 84.083, and chapters 103A, 103B, 103E to 103G, 115, 116, 394, 396, and 462, the Commissioner provides minimum standards and criteria for the subdivision, use, and development of the shorelands of Public Waters.

Subdivision 3. Intent.

1. The intent of the (SL) Shoreland District is to guide the wise development and utilization of shorelands of Public Waters for the preservation of water quality, natural characteristics, economic values, and the general health, safety and welfare of all Public Waters in the City.

2.The standards and criteria are intended to preserve and enhance the quality of surface waters, conserve the economic and natural environmental values of shorelands, and provide for the wise use of water and related land resources of the state.

Subdivision 4. Purpose.

This section of the Zoning Ordinance is responsive to the cited legislative mandate as administered by the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Subdivision 5. Applicability.

1. This section shall apply to all lands within the jurisdiction of the City of Cold Spring which are located within the shoreland areas of those Public Waters which have been defined and classified by the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources pursuant to Minnesota Statutes and State Regulations, and which are shown on the Shoreland Management Map which shall be considered a part of the Official Zoning Map and this Chapter.

2.The following Public Waters have been classified for purposes of this Chapter by the Commissioner:

* Ordinary High Water Level or lateral extent of the flood plain, whichever is greater

3. Interpretation of District Boundaries.

A. The boundaries of the Shoreland Management Overlay District shall be the shorelands as defined in this Chapter.

B. The practical limits of shoreland may be less than the statutory limits as set forth in this section whenever the waters involved are bounded by topographic devices which extend landward from the waters for lesser distances and when approved in writing by the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources.

C. When interpretation is needed as to the exact location of the boundaries of the Shoreland Management District on the official Zoning Map, where, for example, there appears to be a conflict between a mapped boundary and actual field conditions, the City Engineer shall make the initial interpretation based upon surveys, plans, and other engineering data provided by the person seeking an interpretation; and, based upon the plans and other data available to the City. To the extent that the City is legally required to do so, the initial interpretation of the City Engineer shall be referred to the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources who shall make a final determination pursuant to State law and regulations.

D.Only that portion of a property within the boundaries of the Shoreland Overlay District shall be subject to the provisions of this section

Subdivision 6. Disclaimer.

This Ordinance does not imply those areas outside of the shoreland district or land uses permitted within the shoreland district will be free from flooding and flood damages. This Ordinance shall not create liability on the part of the City or any officer or employee thereof for any flood damages that result from reliance upon this Ordinance or any administrative decision lawfully made hereunder.

Subdivision 7. Definitions.

1.Accessory Structure or Facility. Any building or improvement subordinate to a principal use which, because of the nature of its use, can reasonably be located at or greater than normal structure setbacks.

2.Bluff. A topographic feature such as a hill, cliff, or embankment having the following characteristics (an area with an average slope of less than eighteen (18) percent over a distance for fifty (50) feet or more shall not be considered part of the Bluff):

A. Part or all of the feature is located in a shoreland area.

B. The slope rises at least twenty-five (25) feet above the Ordinary High Water Level of the waterbody.

C. The grade of the slope from the toe of the Bluff to a point twenty-five (25) feet or more above the Ordinary High Water Level averages thirty (30) percent or greater.

D. The slope must drain toward the waterbody.

3.Bluff Impact Zone. A Bluff and land located within twenty (20) feet from the top of a Bluff.

4.Boathouse. A structure designed and used solely for the storage of boats or boating equipment.

5.Building Line. A line parallel to a Lot line or the Ordinary High Water Level to the required setback beyond which a structure may not extend.

6.Commercial Planned Unit Development (Water Oriented). Uses that provide transient, short-term lodging spaces, rooms, or parcels and their operations are essentially service-oriented. For example, hotel/motel accommodations, resorts, recreational vehicle and camping parks, and other primarily service providing water-oriented activities.

7.Commercial Use. The principal use of land or buildings for the sale, lease, rental, or trade of products, goods, and services.

8.Commissioner. The commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

9.Deck. A horizontal, unenclosed platform with or without attached railings, seats, trellises, or other features, attached or functionally related to a principal use or site and at any point extending more than three feet above ground.

10.Duplex, Triplex, and Quad. A dwelling structure on a single lot, having two, three, and four units respectively, being attached by common walls and each unit equipped with separate sleeping, cooking, eating, living, and sanitation facilities.

11.Dwelling Site. A designated location for residential use by one or more persons using temporary or movable shelter, including camping and recreational vehicle sites.

12.Dwelling Unit. Any structure or portion of a structure, or other shelter designed as short- or long-term living quarters for one or more persons, including rental or timeshare accommodations such as motel, hotel, and resort rooms and cabins.

13.Extractive Use. Use of land for surface or subsurface removal of sand, gravel, rock, industrial minerals, other nonmetallic minerals, and peat not regulated under Minnesota Statutes, sections 93.44 to 93.51.

14.Forest Land Conversion. Clear cutting of forested lands to prepare for a new land use other than reestablishment of a subsequent forest stand.

15.Guest Cottage. A structure used as a dwelling unit that may contain sleeping spaces and kitchen and bathroom facilities in addition to those provided in the primary dwelling unit on a lot.

16.Hardship. Same as that term is defined in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 394.

17.Height of Building. The vertical distance from the average elevation of the finished lot grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the coping of the flat roof, or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the average height between the plate and the ridge of a gable, hip or gambrel roof.

18.Industrial Use. The use of land or buildings for the production, manufacture, warehousing, storage, or transfer of goods, products, commodities, or other wholesale items.

19.Intensive Vegetation Clearing. The complete removal of trees or shrubs in a contiguous patch, strip, row or block.

20.Lot. A parcel of land designated by plat, metes and bounds, registered land survey, auditors plot, or other accepted means and separated from other parcels or portions by said description for the purpose of sale, lease, or separation.

21.Lot Width. The shortest distance between Lot lines measured at the midpoint of the Building Line.

22.Nonconformity. The same as that term is defined or described in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 394.

23.Ordinary High Water Level. The boundary of Public Waters and wetlands, and shall be an elevation delineating the highest water level which has been maintained for a sufficient period of time to leave evidence upon the landscape, commonly that point where the natural vegetation changes from predominantly aquatic to predominantly terrestrial. For watercourses, the Ordinary High Water Level is the elevation of the top of the bank of the channel. For reservoirs and flowage, the Ordinary High Water Level is the operating elevation of the normal summer pool.

24.Planned Unit Development or PUD. A type of development characterized by a unified site design for a number of Dwelling Units or Dwelling Sites on a parcel, whether for sale, rent, or lease, and also usually involving clustering of these units or sites to provide areas of common open space, density increases, and a mix of structure types and land uses. These developments may be organized and operated as condominiums, time-share condominiums, cooperatives, full fee ownership, commercial enterprises, or any combination of these, or cluster subdivisions of Dwelling Units, residential condominiums, townhouses, apartment buildings, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks, resorts, hotels, motels, and conversions of structures and land uses to these uses.

25.Public Waters. Any waters as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 103G.005, subdivisions 15 and 15a. However, no lake, pond, or flowage of less than ten acres in size in municipalities and 25 acres in size in unincorporated areas need be regulated for the purposes of parts 6120.2500 to 6120.3900. A body of water created by a private user where there was no previous shoreland may, at the discretion of the local government, be exempted from parts 6120.2500 to 6120.3900. The official determination of the size and physical limits of drainage areas of rivers and streams shall be made by the Commissioner.

26.Residential Planned Unit Development. A use where the nature of residency is non-transient and the major or primary focus of the development is not service-oriented. For example, residential apartments, manufactured home parks, time-share condominiums, townhouses, cooperatives, and full fee ownership residences would be considered as residential Planned Unit Developments.

27.Semipublic Use. The use of land by a private, nonprofit organization to provide a public service that is ordinarily open to some persons outside the regular constituency of the organization.

28.Sensitive Resource Management. The preservation and management of areas unsuitable for development in their natural state due to constraints such as shallow soils over groundwater or bedrock, highly erosive or expansive soils, steep slopes, susceptibility to flooding, or occurrence of flora or fauna in need of special protection.

29.Setback. The minimum horizontal distance between a structure, sewage treatment system, or other facility and an Ordinary High Water Level, sewage treatment system, top of a Bluff, road, highway, property line, or other facility.

30.Sewage treatment system. A septic tank and soil absorption system or other individual or cluster type sewage treatment system as described and regulated in chapter 7080.

31.Sewer System. Pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, and force main, and all other constructions, devices, appliances, or appurtenances used for conducting sewage or industrial waste or other wastes to a point of ultimate disposal.

32. Shore Impact Zone. Land located between the Ordinary High Water Level of a public water and a line parallel to it at a setback of fifty (50) percent of the structure setback.

33.Shoreland. Land located within the following distances from Public Waters: one thousand (1,000) feet from the Ordinary High Water Level of a lake, pond, or flowage; and three hundred (300) feet from a river or stream, or the landward extent of a floodplain designated by ordinance on a river or stream, whichever is greater. The limits of shoreland may be reduced whenever the waters involved are bounded by topographic divides which extend landward from the waters for lesser distances and when approved by the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources.

34.Significant Historic Site. Any archaeological site, standing structure, or other property that meets the criteria for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places or is listed in the State Register of Historic Sites, or is determined to be an unplatted cemetery that falls under the provisions of Minnesota Statutes, section 307.08. A historic site meets these criteria if it is presently listed on either register or if it is determined to meet the qualifications for listing after review by the Minnesota state archaeologist or the director of the Minnesota Historical Society. All unplatted cemeteries are automatically considered to be significant historic sites.

35.Steep Slope. Land where agricultural activity or development is either not recommended or described as poorly suited due to slope steepness and the site’s soil characteristics, as mapped and described in available county soil surveys or other technical reports, unless appropriate design and construction techniques and farming practices are used in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. Where specific information is not available, steep slopes are lands having slopes over twelve (12) percent, as measured over horizontal distances of fifty (50) feet or more, which are not Bluffs.

36.Structure. Any building or appurtenance, including Decks, except aerial or underground utility lines, such as sewer, electric, telephone, telegraph, gas lines, towers, poles, and other supporting facilities.

37.Subdivision. Land that is divided for the purpose of sale, rent, or lease, including Planned Unit Development.

38.Surface Water-Oriented Commercial Use. The use of land for commercial purposes, where access to and use of a surface water feature is an integral part of the normal conductance of business. Marinas, resorts and restaurants with transient docking facilities are examples of such use.

39.Toe of the Bluff. The point on a Bluff where there is, as visually observed, a clearly identifiable break in the slope, from gentler to steeper slope above. If no break in the slope is apparent, the toe of the Bluff shall be determined to be the lower end of a fifty (50) foot segment, measured on the ground, with an average slope exceeding eighteen (18) percent.

40.Top of the Bluff. The point on a Bluff where there is, as visually observed, a clearly identifiable break in the slope, from steeper to gentler slope above. If no break in the slope is apparent, the top of the Bluff shall be determined to be the upper end of a fifty (50) foot segment, measured on the ground, with an average slope exceeding eighteen (18) percent.

41.Variance. The same as that term is defined or described in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 394.

42.Water-Oriented Accessory Structure or Facility. A small, above ground building or other improvement, except stairways, fences, dock, and retaining walls, which, because of the relationship of its use to a surface water feature, reasonably needs to be located closer to Public Waters than the normal structure setback. Examples of such structures and facilities include Boathouses, gazebos, screen houses, fish houses, pump houses, and detached Decks.

43.Wetland. A surface water feature classified as a wetland in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Circular No. 39 (1971 edition), which is hereby incorporated by reference, is available through the Minitex interlibrary loan system, and is not subject to frequent change

Subdivision 8. Permitted Uses.

See “Appendix A”, which is included at the end of these Shoreland District provisions, and made a part hereof.

Subdivision 9. Conditional Uses.

See “Appendix A”, which is included at the end of these Shoreland District provisions, and made a part hereof.

Subdivision 10. Performance Standards.

1. See “Appendix B”, which is included at the end of these Shoreland District provisions, and made a part hereof.

2. Only land area above the Ordinary High Water Level shall be used to meet the minimum Lot area and width requirements. Lot Width standards shall be met at the water line and at the Building Line. In locations where a principal structure exists on both sides of a proposed building site and a Building Line can be reasonably established, the Zoning Administrator may issue a permit for a lesser distance from the Ordinary High Water Level than those required. Structures located wholly or partly within the shore impact zone shall not be used to establish a Building Line. The landward extension of the shore impact zone and its intersection with the adjacent property line shall be used as the point of reference to establish a Building Line in instances where a principal structure is located partially or wholly within the shore impact zone. For new residential dwellings, the Building Line shall be established by calculating the average Building Line setback for the dwelling located on either side of the proposed residential dwelling and by establishing the Building Line by using the sight line method. The most restrictive Building Line setback shall apply, except that in no case shall the calculated setback be greater than the Building Line setback established for the applicable lake classification. For additions, the Building Line may be established by using a string line between the corner of the dwelling for which the addition is being sought and the lakeward corner closest to the dwelling nearest the proposed addition, by using a sight line, by calculating the average setback of the dwellings located on either side of the proposed addition, or by other reasonable methods which may be employed.

3. Bluff Impact Zones. Structures and accessory facilities, except stairways and landings, shall not be placed within Bluff Impact Zones.

4. Impervious Surface Coverage. Impervious surface coverage of lots must not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the lot area and shall only apply to that portion of the lot lying within the Shoreland area.