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Is Your Land Use Ordinance Already Out of Date?

By Rachel Carlson, LMC Staff Attorney, http://lmccodification.blogspot.com

Cities are authorized to adopt land use controls in the form of zoning and subdivisionordinances by a state law known as the Minnesota Municipal Planning Act. (MPA).The MPA requires uniformity with state law for many (if not most) aspects of zoning andsubdivision. Some (but not many) non-substantive provisions do allow minor variation -but only through a charter provision. There are only 107 charter cities in Minnesota. Asa result, for most Minnesota cities, uniformity is premium and the norm.

Frequent Changes in State Law

The MPA has been in effect since the 1970s, but has not been without controversy. As aresult, the MPA is frequently changed and amended, requiring cities to monitor statelaw and adapt local zoning and subdivision controls on a frequent basis to be uniform.Land use controls that are not up to date may create an unwanted (and potentiallyexpensive) liability for cities. In addition, out of date ordinances may render importantland use controls unenforceable in a court of law, thus leaving the city with noprotections against a problematic development or land use.

Suggestions for Ordinance Review

As recently as the2009 legislative session important changes were made to theMPA. If you have not reviewed your land use ordinances since then, there is a possibilitythey are out of date.The following are some common mistakes in land use ordinances.

Timelines. State law sets timelines for review of both zoning and subdivisionapplications. Zoning applications must be reviewed under the 60-Day Rule found atMinn. Stat. 15.99. Preliminary plat applications must be reviewed within 120 days andfinal plats 60 days pursuant to Minn. Stat. 462.358 Subd. 3b. City ordinances thatcontain timelines not consistent with these requirements should be updated.

Non-Conforming Uses. Legal non-conforming uses are uses that do not conform tothe current zoning requirements, but were legal at the time they were commenced. As aresult, the MPA provides non-conforming uses with certain protections that allow fortheir continued existence, renovation and rebuilding (but not expansion). The state

legislature amended the MPA provisions on non-conforming uses in 2001 and 2004 andas recently as the 2009 legislative session. As a result, cities should compare theirexisting provisions with the most current version of the law at Minn. Stat. 462.357Subd. 1c.

Manufactured Homes and Parks. The MPA provides that no city zoning regulationmay prohibit manufactured homes that are built in conformance with the manufacturedhome building code and otherwise comply with all other zoning ordinances. Cities can

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apply architectural and aesthetic requirements to manufactured homes only if the samerequirements also apply to all other single-family homes in the zoning district. Inaddition, manufactured home parks are by law a conditional use in any zoning districtthat allows the construction or placement of a building used or intended to be used bytwo or more families. Many local ordinances do not reflect these state law requirements

and may need to be updated.

Conclusion

Annual review of city land use ordinances is essential to prevent unanticipated liabilityin ordinance enforcement. This article highlights only a few areas of frequent concern.More information about updating your land use ordinances can be found in the LMCITarticle Land Use Ordinance Mistakes available at:http://www.lmc.org/media/document/1/landuseordinancemistakes.pdf

About the Author:

Rachel Carlson is an attorney with the League of Minnesota Cities. The League ofMinnesota Cities is a membership organization serving Minnesota cities since 1913.LMC Codification is a specialized service to help our cities maintain complete, up todate and affordable code books in a frequently changing legal landscape. The LMCCodification blog can be found at: http://lmccodification.blogspot.com.