The regulation set by this Ordinance shall be minimum regulations and shall apply uniformly to each class or kind of structure or land, except as hereinafter provided.
A. Buildings, Structures, Land Use. No building, structure, or land shall be used or occupied and no building or structure or part thereof shall be erected, constructed, reconstructed, moved, or structurally altered except in conformity with all of the regulations of this Ordinance.
B. Yard. No yard or lot existing at the time of passage of this Ordinance shall be reduced in dimension or area below the minimum requirements set forth herein. Yards or lots created after the effective date of this Ordinance shall meet at least the minimum requirement set forth herein.
C. Property Access.
1. Except as otherwise provided in below, any structure erected or moved for use as a dwelling unit or with a replacement cost in excess of two thousand dollars ($2,000) shall be easily accessible to fire and other emergency equipment, and shall be on a lot adjacent or with access to a public street, or with access to an approved private street unless specifically allowed by City Code.
2. The City Engineer shall review all commercial site plans for new or modified access to public roadways and recommend access pavement width, the angle of intersection, the location and separation of access points and the radius of curbed accesses.
3. In general, driveway accesses shall be spaced and separated from other accesses and intersections in a manner consistent with the Anoka County Access Spacing Guidelines and/or the City’s spacing guidelines depending on jurisdiction of roadway.
4. The Fire Code Official shall review all site plans for new or modified commercial/industrial development and comment on access requirements to and around building to ensure proper access for emergency response vehicles.
5. Fire apparatus access shall be provided in accordance with Uniform Fire Code for every facility, building or portion of a building hereafter constructed or moved into or within the jurisdiction when any building is located more than 150 feet from fire apparatus access as measured by an approved route around the exterior of the building or facility.
6. In the Rural Residential District, a lot that has no frontage on a public road or street may obtain a building permit for a single family dwelling and accessory buildings if the lot has frontage on a driveway for which all of the following conditions have been meet:
a. no more than two (2) lots not meeting the frontage requirements of this Section shall be permitted access to the driveway;
b. except where alternative agreements are approved by the City Council, all owners of abutting properties of the driveway must enter into a maintenance agreement in which the owners shall covenant to maintain a driveway, consisting of an elevated and well-drained road top, not less 16.0 feet wide, constructed of Class V aggregate (and preferably finished with bituminous surface). The Building Inspector may withhold issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy until the driveway has been constructed to these standards.
c. all owners of properties abutting by the driveway enter into a development agreement with the City, including but not limited to the following minimum provisions:
i. Granting a sixty-six (66) foot wide right-of-way easement over the driveway to the public, as determined by the City Council.
ii. Granting of public drainage and utility, and trail easements over the driveway, as determined by the City Engineer.
iii. Agreement to obtain a permit from the City for construction of private improvements according to City standards.
iv. Agreement waiving the right to object to the proposed future special assessments for the costs of construction of a public street over the dedicated right-of-way.
v. Recording the agreement on the title of the abutting properties.
d. For the purposes of lot width requirements, access via a driveway under this provision shall be classified as a private street.
D. Traffic. Each proposed use shall not create such a volume of automotive traffic so as to overburden the surrounding road system.
E. Temporary Buildings and Structures. Temporary buildings and structures incidental to construction work are permitted, but only for the period of such work.
F. Accessory Buildings. No accessory building shall be erected in any required Yard.
G. Additional Structures. More than one (1) structure used for a permitted or permissible principal use or customary associated use may be erected on a single lot, provided that yard and other requirements of this Ordinance shall be met for each structure. This Section shall not be interpreted to permit more than one (1) dwelling per Lot.
[Formerly, § 7A-815, amended by Ord. No. 89-1, effective July 21, 1989.]
H. Visibility at Intersections. On a corner lot, nothing shall be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow in such manner as to materially impede vision between a height of two and one-half (2-1/2) feet to ten (10) feet above the centerline grades of the intersection streets in the area bounded by the street lines of such corner Lots and a line joining points along fifty (50) feet from the point of intersection.
I. Fences, Walls, and Hedges. Notwithstanding other provisions of this Ordinance, fences, walls, and hedges may be permitted in any required yard or along the edge of any yard providing that driveway entrances are not shielded by fences, walls, and hedges in such a way so as to obstruct the view of a driver entering a public road from the driveway. The finished side of any fence located in a yard area shall face the neighboring property or public right of way. Corrugated metal or plastic fencing is prohibited.
J. Off-Street Loading/Delivery. Each building designed or modified to include raised (dock) or at-grade vehicle delivery bays shall include adequate maneuvering and parking areas sufficient to eliminate any vehicle maneuvering or parking in public rights-of-way or occupying required parking areas. All raised (dock) delivery areas shall be appropriately screened from public street and all residential land uses.
K. Required Residential Screening.
1. A scaled and dimensioned screening plan must be submitted to the Zoning Administrator prior to approval of the following:
a. Any new nonresidential use, structure, building addition, site improvement, or land use change that occurs on a property located within a non-residentially zoned district that abuts property located within a residentially zoned district or within 150 feet of an existing residence, including but not limited to:
i. outdoor storage, contractor's yard, commercial equipment and commercial vehicles;
ii. any new development that requires an interim use permit, conditional use permit, planned unit development or subdivision approval; and
iii. outdoor storage areas.
2. The screening plan must be reviewed and approved administratively by the Zoning Administrator except where it accompanies a land use application, in which case it shall be reviewed concurrently with that application by the Planning Commission and City Council. The required screening plan shall restrict direct visual access to the nonresidential use or nonresidential property from any residentially zoned property or residence within 150 feet. The screening shall be designed and maintained as follows:
a. Required screening shall be a f six (6) feet in height.
b. Required screening shall be located entirely within the required setbacks.
c. Required screening shall be at least ninety-five (95) percent opaque throughout the year.
d. Required screening shall be satisfied by one (1) or more of the following:
i. A berm.
ii. A decorative fence. For the purposes of this section, a chain-link fence with slats or fabric material is not a decorative fence. The finished side of fence (the side having no structural supports) shall face the residential property. Corrugated metal or plastic fencing is prohibited.
iii. A decorative masonry wall.
iv. A hedge or plantings that grow to the required height within three (3) years of installation.
3. The required screening requirement may be waived by the Zoning Administrator in locations where the minimum separation of non-residentially zoned developable areas and residential zone developable areas is at least one-quarter mile, due to wetlands, public waters, or publicly-owned properties.
The property owner shall be responsible for the restoration or repair of screening that becomes not in compliance with the approved screening plan. Approved screening must be maintained in a reasonable condition and shall not by reason of age, decay, accident, or otherwise be allowed to become and remain in a state of disrepair on noncompliance with the approved screening plan.
[§ 7A-800, Subsection K, amended by Ord. No. 15-10, effective January 14, 2016; amended by Ord. No. 23-02, effective August 17, 2023.]
L. Temporary Family Care Dwelling Unit in the Rural Residential District. The City may grant approval of a temporary family care dwelling unit, in addition to the principal dwelling unit allowed by this Section, following receipt of an application for an Interim Use Permit. A temporary family care dwelling unit shall meet all the requirements of the City Code, but a temporary family care dwelling unit shall not be allowed in a detached accessory structure. Approval of an Interim Use Permit for a temporary family care dwelling unit also requires a finding that no reasonable alternative is available for assisted living arrangements for immediate family members of the owner(s) of such principal dwelling unit.
[§ 7A-800, amended by Ord. No. 89-15, effective, December 29, 1989, and amended by Ord No. 02-01, effective May 17, 2002, and amended by Ord. No. 04-04A, effective June 3, 2004, amended by Ord. 05-01, effective December 1, 2005, amended by Ord. No. 07-02, effective March 1, 2007, as amended by Ord. No. 11-06, effective August 4, 2011, amended by Ord. No. 16-01, effective February 11, 2016; amended by Ord. No. 21-09, effective December 8, 2021.]