For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
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.
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 percent (18%) over a distance for fifty (50) feet or more shall not be considered part of the bluff):
(1) Part or all of the feature is located in a shoreland area:
(2) The slope rises at least twenty-five (25) feet above the ordinary high water level of the waterbody;
(3) 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 percent (30%) or greater;
(4) The slope must drain toward the waterbody.
BLUFF IMPACT ZONE. A bluff and land located within twenty (20) feet from the top of a bluff.
BOATHOUSE. A structure designed and used solely for the storage of boats or boating equipment.
BUILDING LINE. A line parallel to a lot line or the ordinary high water level at the required setback beyond which a structure may not extend.
COMMERCIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENTS. 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-oriented activities are commercial planned unit developments.
COMMERCIAL USE. The principal use of land or buildings for the sale, lease, rental, or trade of products, goods, and services.
COMMISSIONER. The Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources.
CONDITIONAL USE. A land use or development as defined by ordinance that would not be appropriate generally but may be allowed with appropriate restrictions as provided by official controls upon a finding that certain conditions as detailed in the zoning ordinance exist, the use or development conforms to the comprehensive land use plan of the community, and the use is compatible with the existing neighborhood.
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 (3) feet above ground.
DUPLEX, TRIPLEX, AND QUAD. A dwelling structure on a single lot, having two (2), three (3), and four (4) units, respectively, being attached by common walls and each unit equipped with separate sleeping, cooling, eating, living, and sanitation facilities.
DWELLING SITE. A designated location for residential use by (1) one or more persons using temporary or movable shelter, including camping and recreational vehicle sites.
DWELLING UNIT. Any structure or portion of a structure, or other shelter designed as short- or long-term living quarters for one (1) or more persons, including rental or timeshare accommodations such as motel, hotel, and resort rooms and cabins.
EXTRACTIVE USE. The use of land for surface or subsurface removal of sand, gravel, rock, industrial minerals, other nonmetallic minerals, and peat not regulated under M.S. §§ 93.44 through 93.51, as they may be amended from time to time.
FOREST LAND CONVERSION. The clear cutting of forested lands to prepare for a new land use other than reestablishment of a subsequent forest stand.
GUEST COTTAGE. A structure used as a dwelling unit that may contain sleeping spaces, kitchen and bathroom facilities in addition to those provided in the primary dwelling unit on a lot.
HEIGHT OF BUILDING. The vertical distance between the highest adjoining ground level at the building or ten (10) feet above the lowest ground level, whichever is lower, and the highest point of a flat roof or average height of the highest gable of a pitched or hipped roof.
INDUSTRIAL USE. The use of land or buildings for the production, manufacture, warehousing, storage, or transfer of goods, products, commodities, or other wholesale items.
INTENSIVE VEGETATION CLEARING. The complete removal of trees or shrubs in a contiguous patch, strip, row, or block.
NONCONFORMITY. Any legal use, structure or parcel of land already in existence, recorded, or authorized before the adoption of official controls or amendments thereto that would not have been permitted to become established under the terms of the official controls as now written, if the official controls had been in effect prior to the date it was established, recorded or authorized.
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 flowages, the ordinary high water level is the operating elevation of the normal summer pool.
PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT. 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.
PUBLIC WATERS. Any waters as defined in M.S. § 105.37, Subds. 14 and 15, as they may be amended from time to time.
RESIDENTIAL PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT. A use where the nature of residency is nontransient 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 development, a development must contain at least five (5) dwelling units or sites.
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.
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.
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.
SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM. A septic tank and soil absorption system or other individual or cluster type sewage treatment system.
SEWER SYSTEM. Pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, and force main, and all other construction, devices, appliances, or appurtenances used for conducting sewage or industrial waste or other wastes to a point of ultimate disposal.
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 50 percent (50%) of the structure setback.
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 shorelands 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.
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 M.S. § 307.08, as it may be amended from time to time. 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.
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 average slopes over twelve percent (12%), as measured over horizontal distances of fifty (50) feet or more, that are not bluffs.
SUBDIVISION. Land that is divided for the purpose of sale, rent, or lease, including planned unit developments.
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 which transient docking facilities are examples of such use.
TOE OF THE BLUFF. The lower point of a fifty (50) foot segment with an average slope exceeding 18 percent (18%).
TOP OF THE BLUFF. The higher point of a fifty (50) foot segment with an average slope exceeding eighteen percent (18%).
WATER-ORIENTED ACCESSORY STRUCTURE OR FACILITY. A small, above ground building or other improvement, except stairways, fences, docks, 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.
WETLAND. A surface water feature classified as a wetland in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Circular No. 39 (1971 edition).
(Ord. 247, passed 8-4-1992; Am. Ord. 248, passed 10-20-1992; Am. Ord. 249, passed 10-20-1992; Ord. passed 4-14-1997; Am. Ord. 274, passed 4-15-1997)