(A) Permit required. A permit must be obtained from the Zoning Administrator to verify compliance with all applicable standards outlined in this section prior to the following uses or activities:
(1) The erection, addition, modification, rehabilitation, repair, or alteration of any building, structure, or portion thereof. Normal maintenance requires a permit to determine if such work, either separately or in conjunction with other planned work, constitutes a substantial improvement, as specified in § 153.11.
(2) The construction of a fence, pool, deck, or placement of anything that may cause a potential obstruction.
(3) The change or expansion of a nonconforming use.
(4) The repair of a structure that has been damaged by flood, fire, tornado, or any other source.
(5) The placement of fill, excavation, utilities, on-site sewage treatment systems, or other service facilities.
(6) The storage of materials or equipment, in conformance with division (C) below.
(7) Relocation or alteration of a watercourse (including stabilization projects or the construction of new or replacement dams, culverts and bridges). A local permit is not required if a public waters work permit has been obtained from the Department of Natural Resources, unless a significant area above the ordinary high water level is also to be disturbed.
(8) Any other type of development, as defined in § 153.02.
(B) No permit required. Certain uses or activities may be exempt from obtaining a permit, such as planting a garden, farming, or other obviously insignificant activities such as putting up a mailbox or flagpole. The continuation of existing uses, when the associated activities do not encroach further on the regulatory floodplain or trigger associated standards in this section, do not require a permit.
(C) Minimum development standards.
(1) All development must:
(a) Be designed (or modified) and adequately anchored to prevent floatation, collapse, or lateral movement resulting from hydrodynamic and hydrostatic loads, including the effects of buoyancy;
(b) Be constructed with materials and equipment resistant to flood damage;
(c) Be constructed by methods and practices that minimize flood damage;
(d) Be constructed with heating, ventilation, duct work, and air conditioning equipment and other service facilities elevated at least up to the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation (RFPE). Water, sewage, electrical, and other utility lines below the RFPE shall be constructed so as to prevent water from entering or accumulating within them during conditions of flooding;
(e) Be reasonably safe from flooding and consistent with the need to minimize flood damage;
(f) Be assured to provide adequate drainage to reduce exposure to flood hazards;
(g) Not be detrimental to uses in adjoining areas; and
(h) Not adversely affect the efficiency or restrict the flood carrying capacity of the channel and adjoining floodplain of any tributary watercourse or drainage system.
(2) Materials that, in time of flooding, are buoyant, flammable, explosive, or could be injurious to human, animal, or plant life shall be stored at or above the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation (RFPE), floodproofed, or protected by other measures as approved by the Zoning Administrator. Storage of materials likely to cause pollution of the waters, such as sewage, sand, rock, wrecked and discarded equipment, dredged spoil, municipal, agricultural or industrial waste, and other wastes as further defined in M.S. § 115.01, are prohibited unless adequate safeguards approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency are provided. For projects not requiring approvals by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, adequate safeguards must be approved by the Zoning Administrator prior to issuance of a permit.
Summary of Permitting Requirements for Structures | |||
Structure type | Floodway | Flood fringe | Standards* |
Accessory structures – on fill | Only specific uses and types allowed – with CUP | Allowed with permit | |
Accessory structures – wet floodproofing | Only specific uses and types allowed – with CUP | Allowed with permit | § 153.06(B)(3)(d)1. |
Accessory structures – dry (watertight) floodproofing | Only specific uses and types allowed – with CUP | Allowed with permit | § 153.06(B)(3)(d)3. |
Residential – on fill | Not allowed | Allowed with permit | § 153.06(B)(1) |
Residential – dry (watertight) floodproofing | Not allowed | Not allowed | N/A |
Non-residential – on fill | Not allowed | Allowed with permit | |
Non-residential – dry (watertight) floodproofing | Not allowed | Allowed with permit | § 153.06(B)(2)(b) |
*Note – many of these standards are cross-referenced to avoid duplication | |||
(D) Recreational vehicles. Recreational vehicles must be travel ready, meeting the following criteria:
(1) The vehicle must be fully licensed.
(2) The vehicle must be ready for highway use, meaning on wheels or the internal jacking system, attached to the site only by quick disconnect type utilities.
(3) No permanent structural type additions may be attached to the vehicle.
(Ord. 151, 4th Series, passed 9-6-2022)