Memo - Proposed MCWD Rule Change
"
. Public Warks Department
Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
Copy: Steven C. Mielke, City Manager ".\~
"1"::>
From: Steven J. Stadler, Public Works Director
Date: February 21,2002
Subject: Proposed Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Rule Change
The purpose of this worksession item is to review impacts of a proposed rule change
on Hopkins property and development activities and to support a City Council
. resolution opposing the rule change.
The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) promulgates various rules to
oversee activity within the watershed that affects water quality. They have proposed a
new rule, Rule M, which pertains to vegetated buffer zones adjacent to lakes, streams
and wetlands.
The impact of this new rule to Hopkins properties adjacent to Minnehaha Creek and
various wetland areas is substantial. Any property owner that needs any MCWD permit
would be required, with few exceptions, to adhere to the following:
. Wetland Buffer Distances: A property owner will be required to set aside,
through recording with the County, a buffer area that would be outside the high-
water level of an existing wetland, lake or stream. Within a buffer area there
would be a prohibition on mowing, yard waste disposal, fertilizer application and
impervious surfaces or structures. The proposed buffer distances are:
0 Streamside: 50 feet
0 Lakes: 50 - 100 feet depending on type of lake
0 Wetlands: 25 - 50 feet depending on size of wetland
. Monumentation: The MCWD is also proposing that any dedicated buffer area
include monumentation located every 200 feet and also on the property lines.
. The markers consist of a 4"x4"x42" post with signage provided by MCWD at a
cost to the property owner.
. .
. Staff agrees that wetland buffers can be good management practice under some
circumstances or in certain areas. However, a fully developed community cannot
expect every property owner to adhere to prescribed buffers as proposed in Rule M.
Applying this rule would mean that most homes and businesses adjacent to a wetland,
lake or stream would lose most of their back or side yards to a buffer zone. This rule is
essentially the "taking" of land by dictating land use and development. Further,
application of the rule doesn't guarantee better water quality within the wetland or
stream.
For the reasons stated above, staff would like City Council to adopt a resolution
opposing this new rule.
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