Who is Planning in Minnesota's Growth Corridor?
	Population Changes in Minnesota
	Acres of Ag Land in Growth Corridor
	Planning & Zoning in Minnesota
	Growth Corridor Counties
	Map of Growth Corridor

 

Who is planning in Minnesota’s Growth Corridor?

1000 Friends of Minnesota was attracted to studying high growth areas outside the seven-county metropolitan region because of the challenges and opportunities that accompany growth, especially land use and environmental protection. The region (referred to here as the “growth corridor”) experienced a population increase of approximately 20% from 1990-2000, and future growth is expected as well. According to the Minnesota State Demographic Center, the counties in the growth corridor are expected to add over 400,000 people by 2030, a 43% population increase from 2000.  In the past 10 years, counties in the growth corridor have grown at higher rates than the state of Minnesota and the seven-county metropolitan area (Table 1). Areas of very rapid growth include the northern collar counties of Sherburne, Chisago, and Wright, as well as counties in the Central Lakes Regions, like Cass and Crow Wing. The opportunity to protect an abundance of natural resources and sensitive areas while promoting equity among all residents can happen now before haphazard developments replace the beauty and charm of some of the most desirous places to live, work and play in Minnesota.

East Bank of Mississippi River in St. Cloud, MN.

Changing demographic trends in the growth corridor also include increased mobility as a result of more people working outside their county of residence, aging baby boomers retiring to Minnesota lakes and an increase in diverse populations, especially in southern Minnesota. These demographic changes along with an expected 400,000 new residents in 30 years prompted 1000 Friends of Minnesota aware of the need to study land use, growth management and environmental protection in the growth corridor.  Unlike the seven-county metropolitan area, these counties do not have to report land use activities to a regional planning agency nor do they have the large number of non-profit watchdog organizations that focus' on the Twin Cities area. 1000 Friends of Minnesota wants to work proactively in the growth corridor to educate and advocate for smart growth.

US Census 1990, 2000

As part of our research, 1000 Friends is creating a baseline inventory on the status of land use planning.  We hope to aggregate county and municipal activities to paint regional pictures that include environmental protection, land preservation, transportation policies, healthy communities, economic vitality and regional equity indicators.  Information collected will include which levels of government manage land use planing, comprehensive plans and ordinances updates, financial support for planning processes, and public participation and policy coordination among neighboring communities. In addition to the inventory, 1000 Friends will also use geographic information systems (GIS) and CommunityViz^tm to investigate whether or not counties and municipalities are allocating for future growth based on reliable population projections.  We will display rates of growth and examine per capita land consumption.

Already, 1000 Friends of Minnesota has found that the amount of agricultural land in the growth corridor decreased 4% from 1987 to 1997 (Table 2). Not surprisingly, three Collar Counties - Chisago, Sherburne and Wright, had a high loss of ag land in this period and high population growth from 1990-2000. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release 2002 data in the spring of 2004, and we eagerly await that information to include in our work.

This update contains a brief synopsis of what we have learned about county and township planning in the growth corridor to date. 

USDA Agricultural Census 1987, 1992, 1997

New housing development in Monticello, MN.

Planning and Zoning in Minnesota

In Minnesota, municipalities, counties and townships have the authority to regulate land use, which usually includes a comprehensive land use plan, a zoning ordinance, a subdivision ordinance and a capital improvement program.  The comprehensive plan, or “comp plan”, is the central document that guides policy for a community’s future land use, growth and infrastructure investments.  The comp plan can have sections addressing, but not limited to, infrastructure, transportation, housing, natural resources, and economic development.  It is common for a comp plan to be completed before enacting or updating a zoning ordinance because the zoning ordinance should follow the goals and directions of the comp plan.  However, updating or creating a comp plan is not mandated for jurisdictions in Minnesota outside of the seven-county metropolitan area.

Minnesota enables counties, cities, regions and townships to administer land use controls, but there are no statewide comprehensive planning rules outside of the metropolitan area.  Counties and cities within the seven-county metropolitan area are required to update comprehensive plans every 10 years to uphold the Metropolitan Council’s regional development goals.  Counties and cities outside of the Minneapolis/St.Paul metropolitan area do not have to complete a comprehensive land use plan, but many choose to do so.  The Community Based Planning Act (CBPA) passed in 1998 provided funding and guidelines for local comprehensive planning in Greater Minnesota.  The law established a planning framework of 11 community-based goals that emphasized public participation and the coordination of local and state government in developing plans.  The CBPA was controversial and the law sunsetted in 2001.  Many plans in the growth corridor were funded by the CBPA, including a regional plan for the St. Cloud area (Stearns, Sherburne and Benton Counties) and county plans for Cass, Crow Wing, Dodge, Meeker and Rice.

 Minnesota cities and counties may have many ordinances dealing with land use; a zoning ordinance being common.  Subdivision ordinances regulate the way in which a large parcel of land may be split into smaller lots to make way for housing or business development.  To protect water resources in Minnesota, counties and cities also have shoreline management ordinances that restrict development harmful to groundwater, lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands.  A zoning ordinance is not required for cities or counties.  In fact, the city of Motley (Morrison County) just enacted a zoning ordinance in 2002 and Hubbard County administers only subdivision and shoreline management ordinances, no general land use zoning ordinance.

 1000 Friends of Minnesota is examining land use in 22 counties, including areas in the North Central Lakes Region, the Metropolitan Collar Counties, and southeast Minnesota counties around Rochester.  In addition to the 22 counties that administer planning and zoning regulations in the growth corridor, there are 224 municipalities that have planning and zoning authority (Map 2).  Minnesota townships have the authority to administer a zoning ordinance.  Of the 361 townships in the growth corridor, 88 have a township zoning ordinance.  Five counties (Goodhue, Hubbard, Kanabec, Olmsted and Stearns) each have over 10 townships that administer their own township zoning ordinances.  These counties are located in all parts of the growth corridor and not concentrated in a particular area.  To manage ordinances, townships have hired staff, either part time or fulltime, relied on volunteers, or contracted with the county.

With the assistance of the CBPA in the late 1990s, many communities had the funds to conduct a comp plan process.  Comprehensive planning often requires extensive public input through open houses, design charettes and surveys.  Some communities spend up to two years on updating a plan.  In the growth corridor, 15 counties have completed a comp plan since 1995, and at least four counties are in the process of completing or adopting an updated plan.  Because a comp plan requires an extraordinary amount of work, many counties contract with private planning firms, work with a state agency or collaborate with a private foundation or non-profit organizations.  Growth corridor counties have collaborated with private firms, Regional Development Commissions (state-created planning organizations) as well as foundations such as the Central Minnesota Initiative Foundation.

Major zoning ordinance updates are often the catalyst to update a comp plan, but there are no legal requirements to do so.  Some growth corridor counties that recently updated comp plans also amended zoning ordinances.  Aitkin, Benton, Crow Wing, Cass, Olmsted, Sherburne, Stearns and Wadena counties updated zoning within a short time from a comp plan update in the last five years.  However, some counties update only the zoning ordinance or only the comp plan.  This can pose problems if the two documents contradict each other; technically, a comp plan policy can trump a zoning ordinance.  Wright and Goodhue Counties have not updated their comp plans since the early 1990s, but their zoning ordinances were updated in 2003.  All counties in the growth corridor have updated or amended the county zoning ordinances in the last 10 years (Table 3).  As part of our growth corridor research, county and city land use policies, like zoning ordinances, will be compared to identify growth management policies, open space preservation techniques and smart growth principles.  One indicator of open space, forestry and agricultural land preservation is zoning districts for minimum agricultural/forestry uses. 

Towne Lakes homes in Albertville, MN.

1000 Friends of Minnesota has discovered that among these counties there is not a standard minimum lot size for a common zoning ordinance classification, or for agriculture and forestry use.  These zoning classifications require a minimum lot size for a dwelling unit and that makes the lot expensive for uses besides farming or forestry.  This technique can discourage the two- to three-acre residential lots that typify sprawl.  While many counties employ a common standard of 1 dwelling unit per 40 acres, there are many variations.  Some counties have more than one agricultural zone, such as Stearns County with four different ag zones.  Some counties have minimum lot sizes of 5 or 10 acres in agriculture and forestry zones.  In areas that have less prime agricultural land, like the heavily forested areas of the North Central Lakes region, the minimum lots sizes are smaller.  For example Morrison County has two ag and forestry zones, 1 unit per 5 acres and 1 unit per 10 acres.  In places with smaller minimum lot sizes, farming and forestry uses can be easily replaced by large lot, sprawling residential development.

The land use/transportation connection plays an important role in the development of the growth corridor.  Faster, bigger roads provide access to areas once considered remote.  The Minnesota Department of Transportation manages a highway building project called the Interregional Corridors (IRC) Study.  This road building project has identified highways that are vital to Greater Minnesota’s economic stability.  By connecting regional trade centers with fast moving highways, the IRC program adds lanes and bypasses to existing roadways to ensure smooth moving traffic.  Many of the high priority IRC roads connect growth corridor cities.  In the corridor there are 18 Level 1 and 2 regional trade centers.  Level 1, the highest priority communities include St. Cloud and Rochester.  1000 Friends of Minnesota will continue to examine what effects MNDOT's plans have on local land use planning and the public participation methods and efforts that they have undertaken in Greater Minnesota.

Rapid population growth and inconsistencies among county, city and township land use policies exist in the growth corridor.  1000 Friends of Minnesota will focus much of our research on analyzing the effects that land use planning has on current conditions.  In addition to the land use and planning inventory and analysis, land consumption patterns will be used to estimate what future landscapes would look like based on current trends and also based on more compact or smart growth patterns.  We will also examine communities who now regret past patterns of residential and commercial growth.  Community members often see rapid residential and commercial development as easy tax revenues and economic stability, but long term costs of growth are not always considered.  We will distribute what we have learned with growth corridor communities through a peer review of our findings, workshops in Greater Minnesota and a report card or audit of smart growth principles.  Future work includes partnering with communities to provide visioning and planning services and working with our collaborators on a public policy framework that promotes citizen participation in the planning process and growth management techniques for the growth corridor.

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