County planning enabling act

• Authority to plan
• Definitions
• Comprehensive plan
• Community-based planning
• Official controls
• Public hearings
• Board of adjustments
• Planning commission
• Conditional use permits
• Cooperation with other municipalities
• Interim zoning
• Official map
• Variances

394.21 Authority to carry on county planning and zoning activities. 

Subdivision 1. Except most populous counties. For the purpose of promoting the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the community any county in the state having less than 300,000 population according to the 1950 federal census is authorized to carry on county planning and zoning activities. 

Subd. 1a. Amortization prohibited. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a county, regardless of population, under this chapter or under a special or local law, must not enact, amend, or enforce an ordinance providing for the elimination or termination of a use by amortization which use was lawful at the time of its inception. This subdivision does not apply to adults-only bookstores, adults-only theaters, or similar adults-only businesses, as defined by ordinance. 

Subd. 3. Nuisance. Subdivision 1a does not prohibit a county from enforcing an ordinance providing for the prevention or abatement of nuisances, as defined in section 561.01, or eliminating a use determined to be a public nuisance, as defined in section 617.81, subdivision 2, paragraph (a), clauses (1) to (9), without payment of compensation. 

394.22 Definitions. 

Subd. 2. Board. "Board" means the board of county commissioners. 

Subd. 3. Governing body. "Governing body" means a town board of supervisors, the council of a municipality, or board of county commissioners. 

Subd. 4. Municipality. "Municipality" means a city however organized. 

Subd. 6. Official control. "Official control" means legislatively defined and enacted policies, standards, precise detailed maps, and other criteria, all of which control the physical development of a municipality or a county or any part thereof or any detail thereof, and are the means of translating into ordinances all or any part of the general objectives of the comprehensive plan. Such official controls may include but are not limited to ordinances establishing zoning, subdivision controls, site plan rules, sanitary codes, building codes, housing codes, and official maps. 

Subd. 7. Conditional use. "Conditional use" means 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 (1) certain conditions as detailed in the zoning ordinance exist, and (2) the use or development conforms to the comprehensive land use plan of the county and (3) is compatible with the existing neighborhood. 

Subd. 8. Nonconformity. "Nonconformity" means 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. 

Subd. 9. Comprehensive plan. "Comprehensive plan" means the policies, statements, goals, and interrelated plans for private and public land and water use, transportation, and community facilities including recommendations for plan execution, documented in texts, ordinances and maps which constitute the guide for the future development of the county or any portion of the county. 

Subd. 10. Variance. "Variance" means any modification or variation of official controls where it is determined that, by reason of exceptional circumstances, the strict enforcement of the official controls would cause unnecessary hardship. 

Subd. 11. Town. "Town" means any town, including those with the powers of a statutory city pursuant to law. 

Subd. 12. Official map. "Official map" means a map adopted in accordance with section 394.361 which may show existing county roads and county state aid highways, proposed future county roads and highways, the area needed for widening existing county roads and highways, and existing and future state trunk highway rights-of-way. An official map may also show the location of existing public land and facilities and other land needed for future public purposes, including public facilities such as parks, playgrounds, schools, and other public buildings, civic centers, and travel service facilities. When requested in accordance with section 394.32, subdivision 3, an official map may include existing and planned public land uses within incorporated areas. 

394.23 Comprehensive plan. 

The board has the power and authority to prepare and adopt by ordinance, a comprehensive plan. A comprehensive plan or plans when adopted by ordinance must be the basis for official controls adopted under the provisions of sections 394.21 to 394.37. 

394.232 Community-based planning. 

Subdivision 1. General. Each county is encouraged to prepare and implement a community-based comprehensive plan. A community-based comprehensive plan is a comprehensive plan that is consistent with the goals of community-based planning in 
section 4A.08.

Subd. 2. Notice and participation. Notice must be given at the beginning of the community-based comprehensive planning process to the office of strategic and long-range planning, the department of natural resources, the department of agriculture, the department of trade and economic development, the board of soil and water resources, the pollution control agency, the department of transportation, local government units, and local citizens to actively participate in the development of the plan. An agency that is invited to participate in the development of a local plan but declines to do so and fails to participate or to provide written comments during the plan development process waives the right during the office's review and comment period to submit comments, except for comments concerning consistency of the plan with laws and rules administered by the agency. In determining the merit of the agency comment, the office shall consider the involvement of the agency in the development of the plan. 

Subd. 3. Coordination. A county that prepares a community-based comprehensive plan shall coordinate its plan with the plans of its neighbors and its constituent municipalities and towns in order both to prevent its plan from having an adverse impact on other jurisdictions and to complement plans of other jurisdictions. The county's community-based comprehensive plan must incorporate the community-based comprehensive plan of any municipality or town in the county prepared in accordance with section 462.3535. A county may incorporate a municipal or town community-based comprehensive plan by reference. 

Subd. 4. Joint planning. Under the joint exercise of powers provisions in section 471.59, a county may establish a joint planning district with other counties, municipalities, and towns, that are geographically contiguous, to adopt a single community-based comprehensive plan for the district. The county may delegate its authority to adopt official controls under this chapter to the board of the joint planning district.

Subd. 5. Review and comment. (a) The county or joint planning district shall submit its community-based comprehensive plan to the office of strategic and long-range planning for review of the extent to which the plan promotes local citizen participation, promotes cooperation among adjacent communities, and demonstrates consideration of the community-based planning goals in section 4A.08. The office has 60 days after submittal to comment on the plan. 

(b) The office may not disapprove a community-based comprehensive plan if the office determines that the plan promotes local citizen participation, promotes cooperation among adjacent communities, and demonstrates consideration of the community-based planning goals in section 4A.08.

(c) If the office disagrees with a community-based comprehensive plan or any elements of the plan, the office shall notify the county or district in writing of how the plan specifically fails to address the goals of community-based planning. Upon receipt of the office's written comments, the county or district has 120 days to revise the community-based comprehensive plan and resubmit it to the office for reconsideration. 

(d) If the county or district refuses to revise the plan or the office disagrees with the revised plan, the office shall within 60 days notify the county or district that it wishes to initiate the dispute resolution process in chapter 572A. 

(e) Within 60 days of notice from the office, the county or joint planning district shall notify the office of its intent to enter the dispute resolution process. If the county or district refuses to enter the dispute resolution process, the county or district is ineligible for any future grant disbursements related to community-based planning activities through the office. 

(f) Priority for other state grants, loans, and other discretionary spending must not be given to local units of government based on their participation in community-based planning. 

Subd. 6. Plan update. The county board, or the board of the joint planning district, shall review and update the community-based comprehensive plan periodically, but at least every ten years, and submit the updated plan to the office of strategic and long-range planning for review and comment. 

Subd. 7. No mandamus proceeding. A mandamus proceeding may not be instituted against a county under this section to require the county to conform its community-based comprehensive plan to be consistent with the community-based planning goals in section 4A.08. 

Subd. 8. Planning authority. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or limit a county's authority to prepare and adopt a comprehensive plan and official controls under this chapter. 

394.24 Official controls. 

Subdivision 1. Adopted by ordinance. Official controls which shall further the purpose and objectives of the comprehensive plan and parts thereof shall be adopted by ordinance. The comprehensive plan must provide guidelines for the timing and sequence of the adoption of official controls to ensure planned, orderly, and staged development and redevelopment consistent with the comprehensive plan. 

Subd. 2. Municipality may request inclusion. Official controls adopted by a board shall apply to and be binding upon the county or any parts thereof including areas within the incorporated limits of a municipality, when requested by the municipality under section 394.32. 

Subd. 3. Outside metro, state, federal land. For the area within which official controls adopted by the board are effective, such controls shall apply to the use of land for both private and public purposes, provided that the need for adequate, timely and convenient public and semipublic services and facilities must receive due consideration in the formulation, administration and enforcement of all official controls and no land owned or leased by the federal or state government shall be subject to official controls of the county. With respect to the use of land for public purposes, the provisions of this subdivision shall not apply in the metropolitan area as described in section 473.121. 

394.25 Forms of control. 

Subdivision 1. Adopted by ordinance. Official controls shall be adopted by ordinance and may include but are not limited to the features set forth in this section. 

Subd. 2. Districts set by zoning ordinances. Zoning ordinances establishing districts within which the use of land or the use of water or the surface of water pursuant to section 86B.205 for agriculture, forestry, recreation, residence, industry, trade, soil conservation, water supply conservation, surface water drainage and removal, conservation of shorelands, as defined in sections 103F.201 to 103F.221, and additional uses of land and of the surface of water pursuant to section 86B.205, may be by official controls encouraged, regulated, or prohibited and for such purpose the board may divide the county into districts of such number, shape, and area as may be deemed best suited to carry out the comprehensive plan. Official controls may also be applied to wetlands preservation, open space, parks, sewage disposal, protection of groundwater, protection of floodplains as defined in section 103F.111, protection of wild, scenic, or recreational rivers as defined in sections 103F.311 and 103F.315, protection of slope, soils, unconsolidated materials or bedrock from potentially damaging development, preservation of forests, woodlands and essential wildlife habitat, reclamation of nonmetallic mining lands; protection and encouragement of access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems as defined in section 216C.06, subdivision 8; and the preservation of agricultural lands. Official controls may include provisions for purchase of development rights by the board in the form of conservation easements under chapter 84C in areas where preservation is considered by the board to be desirable, and the transfer of development rights from those areas to areas the board considers more desirable for development. 

Subd. 3. In district zoning, maps. Within each such district zoning ordinances or maps may also be adopted designating or limiting the location, height, width, bulk, type of foundation, number of stories, size of, and the specific uses for which dwellings, buildings, and structures may be erected or altered; the minimum and maximum size of yards, courts, or other open spaces; setback from existing roads and highways and roads and highways designated on an official map; protective measures necessary to protect the public interest including but not limited to controls relating to appearance, signs, lighting, hours of operation and other aesthetic performance characteristics including but not limited to noise, heat, glare, vibrations and smoke; the area required to provide for off street loading and parking facilities; heights of trees and structures near airports; and to avoid too great concentration or scattering of the population. All such provisions shall be uniform for each class of land or building throughout each district, but the provisions in one district may differ from those in other districts. No provision may prohibit earth sheltered construction as defined in section 216C.06, subdivision 2, or manufactured homes built in conformance with sections 327.31 to 327.35 that comply with all other zoning ordinances promulgated pursuant to this section. 

Subd. 3a. Pre-1995 manufactured home park. A county must not enact, amend, or enforce a zoning ordinance that has the effect of altering the existing density, lot-size requirements, or manufactured home setback requirements in any manufactured home park constructed before January 1, 1995, if the manufactured home park, when constructed, complied with the then existing density, lot-size and setback requirements. 

Subd. 3b. Conditional uses. A manufactured home park, as defined in section 327.14, subdivision 3, is a conditional use in a zoning district that allows the construction or placement of a building used or intended to be used by two or more families. 

Subd. 3c. Feedlot zoning ordinances. (a) A county proposing to adopt a new feedlot ordinance or amend an existing feedlot ordinance must notify the pollution control agency and commissioner of agriculture at the beginning of the process. 

(b) Prior to final approval of a feedlot ordinance, a county board may submit a copy of the proposed ordinance to the pollution control agency and to the commissioner of agriculture and request review, comment, and preparation of a report on the environmental and agricultural effects from specific provisions in the ordinance. 

(c) The report may include: (1) any recommendations for improvements in the ordinance; and (2) the legal, social, economic, or scientific justification for each recommendation under clause (1). 

(d) A local ordinance that contains a setback for new feedlots from existing residences must also provide for a new residence setback from existing feedlots located in areas zoned agricultural at the same distances and conditions specified in the setback for new feedlots, unless the new residence is built to replace an existing residence. A county may grant a variance from this requirement under section 394.27, subdivision 7. 

Subd. 4. Official maps. Official maps as defined in section 394.22, subdivision 12. 

Subd. 5a. Metro counties; special areas. In counties in the metropolitan area as defined in section 473.121, official maps may for a period of up to five years designate the boundaries of areas reserved for purposes of soil conservation, water supply conservation, flood control and surface water drainage and removal. 

Subd. 7. Specific controls; other subjects. Specific controls pertaining to other subjects incorporated in the comprehensive plan or establishing standards and procedures to be employed in land development including, but not limited to, subdividing of land and the approval of land plats and the preservation and dedication of streets and land for other public purposes and the general design of physical improvement. 

Subd. 8. Law adopted by reference. Any statute of Minnesota, any administrative rule of any department of the state of Minnesota affecting the county, or any code, adopted by reference as part of the official control. The term "code" as used herein means any compilation of rules or standards or part thereof prepared by any governmental agency or any trade or professional association for general distribution in printed form as a standard or model on the subject of building construction, plumbing, electric wiring, inflammable liquids, sanitary provisions, public health, safety, or welfare. Prior to adoption at least one copy of the statute, rule, ordinance or code shall be marked as official copies and filed for use and examination by the public in the office of the county auditor. Provisions of the statute, rule, ordinance or code thus 
incorporated in such ordinance by reference shall be as much a part of the ordinance as if they had been set out in full therein. 

Subd. 9. Erosion and sediment controls. Erosion and sediment controls with regard to clearing, grading, excavation, transporting and filling of lands. Erosion and sediment controls may include, but need not be limited to requiring the development of plans before any land is disturbed. Plans for disturbing land may be submitted to the appropriate soil and water conservation district for comment and review. 

Subd. 10. Amendments. An amendment to official controls may be initiated by the board, the planning commission, or by petition of affected property owners as defined in the official controls. An amendment not initiated by the planning commission shall be referred to the planning commission, if there is one, for study and report and may not be acted upon by the board until it has received the recommendation of the planning commission. 

394.26 Public hearings. 

Subd. 1a. When required. In addition to public hearings required by section 375.51 prior to the adoption by ordinance of any comprehensive plan or amendments thereto or of any official control or amendment thereto, public hearings shall be held before any conditional use permit, any variance, and any proposal for a subdivision is approved or denied by the responsible authority, and in circumstances where a public hearing is otherwise required by sections 394.21 to 394.37. Such public hearings may be continued from time to time and additional hearings may be held. 

Subd. 2. Notice. Notice of the time, place, and purpose of any public hearing shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the town, municipality, or other area concerned, and in the official newspaper of the county, at least ten days before the hearing, except that notice of public hearings in connection with the adoption by ordinance of any comprehensive plan or amendments thereto or adoption or amendment of any official controls shall be given in the manner provided by section 375.51, subdivision 2. In addition to the requirements of section 375.51, subdivision 2, written notice of public hearings on all official controls and amendments thereto shall be sent to the governing bodies of all towns and all municipalities located within the county. Written notice of public hearings regarding the application of official controls to specific properties, including but not limited to conditional uses, variances, zoning regulations, and subdivision regulations, shall be sent to all property owners of record within 500 feet of the affected property in incorporated areas. In unincorporated areas, the written notice shall be sent to 
property owners as follows: 

(a) In the case of variances, to owners of record within 500 feet of the affected property; 

(b) In the case of conditional uses, to owners of record within one-quarter mile of the affected property or to the ten properties nearest to the affected property, whichever would provide notice to the greatest number of owners; 

(c) In the case of all other official controls, including but not limited to zoning regulations and subdivision regulations, to owners of record within one-half mile of the affected property. 

Written notice shall also be given to the affected board of town supervisors, and the municipal council of any municipality within two miles of the affected property. 

Subd. 3a. Who runs hearing. The board may assign responsibility to conduct public hearings for one or more purposes to the planning commission, board of adjustment or any official or employee of the county, except as provided in section 375.51. 

394.27 Creation and duties of a board of adjustment.

Subdivision 1. When controls adopted. Whenever a board of county commissioners shall have adopted official controls it shall at the same time as the adoption of such controls create a board of adjustment by ordinance. 

Subd. 2. Procedure, qualifications. The board of adjustment shall consist of at least three but not more than seven members, including at least one member from the unincorporated area of the county, whose appointment, term of office, or removal from the board shall be as provided in the ordinance creating the board of adjustment; provided that no elected officer of the county nor any employee of the board of commissioners shall serve as a member of the board of adjustment and that one member of such board of adjustment shall also be a member of any planning commission appointed under the provisions of sections 394.21 to 394.37. In an ordinance creating a three member board of adjustment, provision may be made for one alternate member. The alternate board member shall, when directed by the chair, attend all meetings of the board and participate fully in its activities but shall not vote on any issue unless authorized to do so by the chair. The chair shall authorize the alternate board member to vote on an issue when a regular member is absent, physically incapacitated, abstains because of a possible conflict of interest, or is prohibited by law from voting on that issue. Any question of whether a particular issue involves a conflict of interest sufficient to disqualify a regular board member from voting thereon shall be decided by majority vote of all regular board members except the member who is being challenged. In the ordinance establishing the board of adjustment provision may be made for removal of any member for nonperformance of duty or misconduct in office and for the filling of vacancies for any unexpired term. The regular and alternate members of such board of adjustment may be paid compensation in an amount determined by the county board and may be paid their necessary expenses in attending meetings of the board and in the conduct of the business of the board. 

Subd. 3. Officers. The board of adjustment shall elect a chair and vice-chair from among its members and shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of a board. It shall adopt rules for the transaction of its business and shall keep a public record of its transaction, findings, and determinations. 

Subd. 4. Meetings. The meetings of the board of adjustment shall be held at the call of the chair and at such other times as the board in its rules of procedure may specify. 

Subd. 5. Authority. The board of adjustment shall have the authority to order the issuance of variances, hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by any administrative official charged with enforcing any ordinance adopted pursuant to the provision of sections 394.21 to 394.37, order the issuance of permits for  buildings in areas designated for future public use on an official map and perform such other duties as required by the official controls. Such appeal may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board or bureau of a town, municipality, county, or state. In exercising its powers under this subdivision, the board of adjustment shall take into consideration the town board's recommendation when the board of adjustment's decision directly affects land within the town. 

Subd. 6. Appeals. An appeal from any order, requirement, decision, or determination of any administrative official shall be taken in such time as shall be prescribed by the ordinance creating the board of adjustment by filing with the board of adjustment a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The board of adjustment shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal and give due notice thereof to the appellant and the officer from whom the appeal is taken and to the public and decide the same within a reasonable time which shall be defined in the ordinance establishing the board of adjustment. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the board of adjustment to whom the appeal is taken certifies that by reason of the facts stated in the certificate a stay would cause imminent peril to life or property. The board of adjustment may reverse or affirm wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal was taken and may direct the issuance of a permit. The reasons for the board's decision shall be stated in writing. 

Subd. 7. Variances; hardship. The board of adjustment shall have the exclusive power to order the issuance of variances from the terms of any official control including restrictions placed on nonconformities. Variances shall only be permitted when they are in harmony with the general purposes and intent of the official control in cases when there are practical difficulties or particular hardship in the way of carrying out the strict letter of any official control, and when the terms of the variance are consistent with the comprehensive plan. "Hardship" as used in connection with the granting of a variance means the property in question cannot be put to a reasonable use if used under the conditions allowed by the official controls; the plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to the property not created by the landowner; and the variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality. Economic considerations alone shall not constitute a hardship if a reasonable use for the property exists under the terms of the ordinance. Variances shall be granted for earth sheltered construction as defined in section 216C.06, 
subdivision 2, when in harmony with the official controls. No variance may be granted that would allow any use that is prohibited in the zoning district in which the subject property is located. The board of adjustment may impose conditions in the granting of variances to insure compliance and to protect adjacent properties and the public interest. The board of adjustment may consider the inability to use solar energy systems a "hardship" in the granting of variances. 

Subd. 8. Filing orders. A certified copy of any order issued by the board of adjustment acting upon an appeal from an order, requirement, decision or determination by an administrative official, or a request for a variance, shall be filed with the county recorder or registrar of titles for record. The order issued by the board of adjustment shall include the legal description of the property involved. The board by ordinance shall designate the county official or employee responsible for meeting the requirements of this subdivision. 

Subd. 9. Appeal to district court. All decisions by the board of adjustment in granting variances or in hearing appeals from any administrative order, requirement, decision or determination shall be final except that any aggrieved person or persons, or any department, board or commission of the jurisdiction or of the state shall have the right to appeal within 30 days, after receipt of notice of the decision, to the district court in the county in which the land is located on questions of law and fact. 

394.30 County board's planning commission. 

Subdivision 1. Appointed chair; members. Any board of county commissioners may by ordinance appoint a planning commission composed of not less than five nor more than 11 members appointed by the chair of the board. At least two members shall be residents of the portion of the county outside the corporate limits of municipalities. The manner of appointment and terms of office of the members shall be as provided in the ordinance. No more than one voting member of the commission shall be an officer or employee of the county. No voting member of the commission shall have received, during the two years prior to appointment, any substantial portion of income from business operations involving the development of land within the county for urban and urban related purposes. In the ordinance establishing the planning commission the board may designate any county officer or employee as an ex officio member of such commission. The term of office and removal of any member for nonperformance of duty or misconduct in office as well as filling vacancies on the board shall be as provided in the ordinance creating the commission. 

Subd. 3. Pay, expenses. The members of the commission, other than members of the board of county commissioners, may be compensated in an amount determined by the county board. All commission members, including county commissioners, may be paid their necessary expenses in attending meetings of the commission and in the conduct of the business of the commission. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prohibit the payment of a per diem to county commissioners pursuant to section 375.055, subdivision 1. 

Subd. 4. Officers; plan preparation, use permit review. The planning commission shall elect a chair and secretary from among its members and cooperate with the planning director and other employees of the county in preparing and recommending to the board for adoption a comprehensive plan and recommendations for plan execution in the form of official controls and other measures, and amendments thereto. In all instances in which the planning commission is not the final authority, as authorized in subdivision 5, the commission shall review all applications for conditional use permits and plans for subdivisions of land and report thereon to the board. 

Subd. 5. Additional duties. The board may by ordinance assign additional duties and responsibilities to the planning commission including but not restricted to the conduct of public hearings, the authority to order the issuance of some or all categories of conditional use permits, the authority to approve some or all categories of subdivisions of land, and the authority to approve some or all categories of planned unit developments. The planning commission may be required by the board to review any comprehensive plans and official controls and any plans for public land acquisition and development sent to the county for that purpose by any local unit of government or any state or federal agency and shall report thereon in writing to the board. 

394.301 Conditional use permits. 

Subdivision 1. By ordinance. The board may by ordinance designate certain types of developments, including planned unit developments and certain land development activities as conditional uses under zoning regulations. Conditional uses may be approved upon a showing by an applicant that standards and criteria stated in the ordinance will be satisfied. Such standards and criteria shall include both general requirements for all conditional uses and, insofar as practicable, requirements specific to each designated conditional use. 

Subd. 2. Issuance, review. Conditional use permits shall be issued by the officer administering the official controls only upon the order of the board or the planning commission as designated by ordinance as the approval authority for one or more categories of conditional uses. The planning commission shall in all instances have an opportunity to review conditional uses prior to any final decision by the designated approval authority. Public hearings shall be held in accordance with section 394.26. In connection with ordering the issuance of a conditional use permit the designated approval authority may impose such additional restrictions or conditions as it deems necessary to protect the public interest, including but not limited to matters relating to appearance, lighting, hours of operation and performance characteristics. When appropriate, restrictive covenants may be entered into regarding such matters.

Subd. 3. Duration. A conditional use permit shall remain in effect for so long as the conditions agreed upon are observed, provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the board from enacting or amending official controls to change the status of conditional uses. 

Subd. 4. Copy filed. A certified copy of any conditional use permit shall be filed with the county recorder or registrar of titles for record. The conditional use permit shall include the legal description of the property involved. The board by ordinance shall designate the county official or employee responsible for meeting the requirements of the subdivision. 

394.32 Cooperation with municipalities. 

Subdivision 1. By contract; fees. The governing body of any municipality may contract with the board for planning and zoning services to be provided by the county, and the contract may provide that the municipality shall pay such fees as are agreed for the services performed. 

Subd. 2. Joint planning. The contract between the governing body of the municipality and the board may provide among other things for joint county-municipal planning activities, or it may designate the board as the planning agency for the municipality. 

Subd. 3. Comprehensive plan; control enforcement. The governing body of any municipality may request a county board to submit to such governing body a comprehensive plan for the municipality setting forth such provisions as the board deems applicable to the municipality and for its best interests, or to include the area within the municipality in a countywide comprehensive plan, or to prepare official controls to apply to the area within the municipality. Notwithstanding the adoption of the comprehensive plan and recommendations for the municipality the plan and recommendations shall not be binding until official controls are adopted by the municipality in accordance with the plan or until the county adopts official controls for the areas within the incorporated limits of the municipality when requested by the governing body of the municipality. After the county adopts official controls for areas within a municipality, the county shall enforce the controls unless the county and municipality provided otherwise by agreement. A municipality may at any time, by resolution of its governing body, take over planning functions, including adoption and enforcement of official controls, with respect to areas within its corporate limits for which a county has adopted official controls. 

394.34 Interim zoning. 

If a county is conducting, or in good faith intends to conduct studies within a reasonable time, or has held or is holding a hearing for the purpose of considering a comprehensive plan or official controls or an amendment, extension, or addition to either, or in the event new territory for which no zoning may have been adopted, may be annexed to a municipality, the board in order to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare may adopt as an emergency measure a temporary interim zoning map or temporary interim zoning ordinance, the purpose of which shall be to classify and regulate uses and related matters as constitutes the emergency. Such interim resolution shall be limited to one year from the date it becomes effective and to one year to renewal thereafter. 

394.361 Official map. 

Subdivision 1. Future public uses. Land that is needed for future street and highway purposes and as sites for other necessary public facilities and services is frequently diverted to nonpublic uses which could have been located on other lands without hardship or inconvenience to the owners. When this happens, public uses of land may be denied or may be obtained later only at prohibitive cost or at the expense of dislocating the owners and occupants of the land. Identification on official maps of land needed for future public uses permits both the public and private property owners to adjust their building plans equitably and conveniently before investments are made which will make such adjustments difficult to accomplish. 

Subd. 2. Development; hearings, adoption, filing. The planning commission may develop and recommend for adoption by the board official maps and amendments thereto covering all or any portion of the unincorporated area of the county. Public hearings on proposed official maps and amendments thereto shall be held in accordance with section 394.26. The official map may be adopted and amended by ordinance by the board. 

All official maps shall be prepared in sufficient detail to permit the establishment of future acquisition lines on the ground. In unplatted areas a minimum of a centerline survey shall have been made prior to the preparation of the final draft of the official map. The accuracy of the future acquisition lines shown on the official map shall be attested to by the county surveyor. Copies of official maps and amendments shall be filed in accordance with section 394.35. One copy of the official map shall be furnished to the town clerk of each affected town. 

Subd. 3. Effect. After an official map has been adopted and filed, the issuance of land use or zoning permits or approvals by the county shall be subject to the provisions of this section. Whenever any street or highway is widened or improved or any new street is opened, or interests in lands for other public purposes are acquired by the county, it is not required in such proceedings to pay for any building or structure placed without a permit or approval or in violation of conditions of a permit or approval within the limits of the mapped street or highway or outside of any building line that may have been established upon the existing street or within any area thus identified for public purposes. The adoption of official maps does not give the county any right, title or 
interest in areas identified for public purposes thereon, but the adoption of a map does authorize the county to acquire such interests without paying compensation for buildings or structures erected in such areas without a permit or approval or in violation of the conditions of a permit or approval. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to buildings or structures in existence prior to the filing of the official map. 

Subd. 4. Board of adjustment role. If a permit for a building in such location is denied, the board of adjustment shall have the power, upon appeal by the owner of the land to authorize the issuance of a permit for building in such location in any case in which the board finds, upon the evidence and the arguments presented to it, (a) that the entire property of the appellant of which such area identified for public purposes forms a part cannot be put to a reasonable use by the owner unless such a permit is granted, and (b) that balancing the interest of the county in preserving the integrity of the official map and the comprehensive plan and interest of the owner of the property in the use of the property and in the benefits of ownership, the issuance of such permit is required by considerations of justice and equity. Prior to reaching a decision upon the appeal, public hearings shall be held in accordance with section 394.26. If the board of adjustment authorizes the issuance of a permit the board shall have six months from the date of the decision of the board of adjustment to institute proceedings to acquire such land or interest therein, and if no such proceedings are started within that time, the officer responsible shall issue a permit in accordance with the conditions stated in the authorization specifying the exact location, ground area, height and other details as to the extent and character of the building for which the permit is granted. 

394.362 Variances; use permits; adverse effect. 

Subdivision 1. Variances; demonstration. The applicant for a variance which, in the opinion of the board of adjustment, may result in a material adverse effect on the environment may be requested by the board to demonstrate the nature and extent of the effect. 

Subd. 2. Permit; demonstration. The applicant for a conditional use permit which, in the opinion of the planning commission, may result in a material adverse effect on the environment may be requested by the board to demonstrate the nature and extent of the effect.