All legally established nonconformities as of the date of this ordinance may continue, but they will be managed according to applicable state statutes and other regulations of this county for the subjects of alterations and additions, repair after damage, discontinuance of use and intensification of use; except that the following standards will also apply in shoreland areas.
(A) Additions/expansions to nonconforming structures.
(2) Deck additions may be allowed without a variance to a structure not meeting the required setback from the ordinary high water level if all of the following criteria and standards are met:
(a) The structure existed on the date the structure setbacks were established;
(b) A thorough evaluation of the property and structure reveals no reasonable location for a deck meeting or exceeding the existing ordinary high water level setback of the structure;
(c) The deck encroachment toward the ordinary high water level does not exceed 15% of the existing setback of the structure from the ordinary high water level or does not encroach closer than 30 feet, whichever is more restrictive; and
(d) The deck is constructed primarily of wood and is not roofed or screened.
(B) Nonconforming subsurface sewage treatment systems.
(1) A subsurface sewage treatment system (SSTS) must have been issued a current certificate of compliance before an application for a zoning permit can be approved.
(a) For variances and conditional use permits, a condition shall be added to the recorded document requiring upgrading and issuance of a certificate of compliance before the variance or conditional use of the property is commenced. An exception to this requirement is made when the variance request is for placement of an SSTS.
(b) For the purposes of this provision, a sewage treatment system shall not be considered nonconforming if the only deficiency is the sewage treatment system’s improper setback from the ordinary high water level.
(c) An escrow account for the exclusive purpose of SSTS installation, repair or improvement may be utilized to expedite the following permits or uses without a current certificate of compliance for a brief period of time. The established escrow account shall be held in trust by a FDIC insured lending institution. The escrow account shall total no less than one and one-half multiplied by the total amount of a written estimate from a licensed contractor for a design which has been approved by the Public Health Services Department or one and one-half multiplied by the annual average cost of a standard mound system as determined by the Public Health Services Department.
1. Zoning permit. The non-compliant SSTS shall be upgraded and issued a current certificate of compliance within 120 days of issuance of a zoning permit, except as provided under extension/exceptions below.
2. Variance and/or conditional use permit. The non-compliant SSTS shall be upgraded and issued a current certificate of compliance within 120 days of issuance of a zoning permit, which ever shall occur first, except as provided for under extension/exceptions below.
3. Extension/exception. If a request for a permit, variance or conditional use permit is received between November 1 and April 30, the county may issue a permit, conditional use permit or variance immediately with the requirement that a compliance inspection be completed by the following June 1, and a certificate of compliance be submitted by the property owner by the following September 30. All other requests require a certificate of compliance prior to the issuance of a permit.
(2) The county will require upgrading or replacement of any nonconforming system identified by this program within a reasonable period, which will not exceed 120 days. Sewage systems installed according to all applicable local shoreland management standards adopted under M.S. Chapter 103F, as it may be amended from time to time, in effect at the time of installation may be considered as conforming unless they are determined to be failing, except that systems using cesspools, leaching pits, seepage pits or other deep disposal methods or systems with less than three feet of soil treatment area separation above groundwater than required by the State Pollution Control Agency’s rules for design of on-site subsurface sewage treatments systems shall be considered nonconforming.
(Ord. 97, passed 7-21-2009)