VII.2. Educational Topic: Zoning Ordinance
CITY OF HOPKINS
Memorandum
To: Chair and Planning & Zoning Commission Members
From: Ryan Krzos, City Planner
Date: October 24, 2023
Subject: P&ZC Training: Zoning Decisions and the Hopkins Zoning Districts
_____________________________________________________________________
PURPOSE
Staff will present an overview of Zoning Decisions and the Hopkins Zoning Districts for
educational purposes.
INFORMATION
The Hopkins Zoning Code establishes policies and procedures guiding land use and
development within the City. The procedures are designed specifically in accordance
with the State Statute provisions that enable the City to enact zoning policies. The
attached handout from the League of Minnesota Cities describes the context and basis
of zoning, and zoning decisions, as well as comprehensive planning.
Article 13 contains the provision related to the
procedures of the Zoning Code. Table 13-1
provides a summary of these procedures and
the party responsible for review and
recommendation or final decision. The more
common procedures are for applications for
Zoning Map Amendments (Rezoning),
Conditional Use Permits, Planned Unit
Developments, Site Plans, and Variances.
These application types will be further
discussed during the presentation.
Articles 2 through 4 of the Zoning Code
contain the provisions related to all of the 21
various ‘zones’ of the city. Article 2 describes
the Neighborhood Zones, Article 3 describes
the Mixed-Use Zones, and Article 4 describes
the Special Purpose Zones.
The Neighborhood Zones Article regulates
the City’s residential neighborhoods. Three
groups of zones comprise this category
ranging from more urban to suburban. The
N1, Estate Neighborhood is primarily
intended to accommodate rural, large lots
Planning & Development
transitioning to suburban or traditional residential. The N2, Suburban Neighborhood N2
zones are primarily intended to accommodate detached and semi-detached houses in a
more suburban context. The N2-A and N2-B zones are for smaller and larger lot
neighborhoods, respectively. The N3, Traditional Neighborhood zones are primarily
intended to accommodate detached houses, semi-detached houses, two-unit houses,
and attached houses in a more traditional neighborhood context. The N3-A and N3-B
zones are for larger and smaller lot neighborhoods, respectively.
The Mixed-Use Zones are a collection of zones that allow for a range of activities often
with a mix of use types such as residential, retail, office, and industrial. The mixed-use
zones also vary in locational characteristics ranging from urban downtown to suburban.
Descriptions of the zones are as follows:
MX-TOD, Mixed-Use Transit-Oriented District (TOD) Center. The MX-TOD zone
is intended for use in close proximity to transit stations, where walkable storefronts
provide shopping and services for residents in the center and upper story uses
include residences and offices.
MX-D, Mixed-Use Downtown Center. The MX-D zone is intended for use
specifically in the downtown center, specifically along Mainstreet, where walkable
storefronts provide shopping and services for residents and upper story uses include
residences and offices.
MX-N, Mixed-Use Neighborhood Center. The MX-N zone is intended for mixed-
use, walkable neighborhood centers and nodes, lower in scale and intensity than the
downtown center.
MX-S, Mixed-Use Suburban Center. The MX-S zone is intended for mixed-use,
regional-scale nodes, where residents and visitors may access a mix of
predominantly commercial uses, including motor vehicle-related uses, in a walkable
environment.
RX-TOD, Residential-Office Mix Transit-Oriented District (TOD) Center. The RX-
TOD zone is intended for use proximate to transit stations, where residential, office,
and other limited uses can mix comfortably in a walkable environment.
RX-D, Residential-Office Mix Downtown Center. The RX-D zone is intended for
use in the downtown center in support of Mainstreet, where residential, office, and
limited commercial uses can mix comfortably in a walkable environment.
RX-N, Neighborhood Residential-Office Mix Neighborhood Center. The RX-N
zone is intended for locations along corridors and neighborhood edges, where
residential, office, and limited commercial uses can mix comfortably in a walkable
environment.
NX1, Neighborhood Residential Mix. The NX1 zone is intended to preserve the
physical form of existing neighborhoods and support new neighborhoods with a mix
of smaller scaled housing types, including single-unit houses, multi-unit houses, and
townhouses.
NX2, General Residential Mix. The NX2 zone is intended for neighborhoods with a
wider mix of housing types, including multi-unit houses, townhouses, rowhouses,
and apartment buildings.
IX-TOD, Employment Mix Transit-Oriented District (TOD) Center. The IX-TOD
zone is intended for use proximate to transit stations in innovation districts, where
office, research and development, and low-impact production and manufacturing
uses with limited external impacts can mix comfortably in a walkable environment.
I-TOD, Industrial Transit-Oriented District (TOD) Center. The I-TOD zone is
intended for use proximate to transit stations, with low-impact and mediumimpact
production and manufacturing, research and development, and warehouse and
distribution uses are organized in a more walkable environment while allowing for
significant truck traffic.
IX-S, Employment Mix Suburban Center. The IX-S zone is intended for regional-
scale nodes, where office, research and development, and low-impact production
and manufacturing with limited external impacts in an environment accessible via
motor vehicle and walking.
The Special Purpose Zones includes the Public & Institutional Zones, the Industrial
Zone, the Closed Landfill Restricted Zone, and the Planned Unit Development
provisions. P1, Parks & Open Space. The P1 zone is intended for parks and other types
of open space or natural areas. The P2 Public & Institutional zone is intended to
accommodate public, civic, and institutional uses in buildings on public or privately
owned lands, while minimizing the potential for adverse impacts on surrounding areas.
The I1, Industrial zone is intended for light industrial uses.
FUTURE ACTION
No future action is required.
Planning and Zoning 101
INFORMATION MEMO
Published: June 24, 2021
Land use regulation
City governments provide many important services, but one function stands apart in its impact
on future generations — the authority to engage in planning and zoning of the community.
Comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances adopted and enforced by current officials affect
the layout and landscape of a city for many years to come. Whether it is the development or
preservation of open space, or the redevelopment and revival of existing properties, what a
community will look like dozens of years from now depends on decisions made today.
City planning and zoning took root in the early 20th century as a way to minimize conflicts
between incompatible land uses and to plan more coherent development. People increasingly
were living in built-up urbanized areas and were suffering health impacts, including reduced
life span, related to density and industrialization.
To promote better health, safety, and welfare, cities began regulating the use, size. and location
of structures on the land through zoning ordinances, and developing future plans for
harmonious and healthy land use patterns.
Con icts and lawsuits
People have strong feelings about land use in most communities, and it o en goes both ways.
Private property owners may feel they should be able to use their land as they see fit, without
government telling them what they can and cannot do. On the other hand, residents may have
equally strong feelings about what others are doing nearby — to the extent that it may injure or
disturb the peace and quiet of their neighborhood. For example, most people do not want to
live next door to a major industrial operation.
Conflicts about land use regulation can lead to litigation. It was through litigation that the U.S.
Supreme Court first upheld the constitutionality of zoning in a seminal 1926 decision (Euclid v.
Ambler, 272 U.S. 365, 47 S. Ct. 114, 71, (1926)), and lawsuits continue to this day.
The League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) provides a unique land use insurance
coverage that defends cities in land use lawsuits, even when there is not a claim for damages.
LMCIT members spend almost $3 million a year defending these lawsuits.
Making versus applying law
Land use litigation is costly, and o en puts city officials in the difficult position of dealing with
controversies that may displease people, no matter the outcome. City officials can help
themselves through these controversies by educating themselves about land use regulation
authority, and the process and procedures necessary to exercise it.
Cities need to understand how much authority they have over any given land use decision. A
city has much broader authority when creating its land use plans and ordinances than it does
when administering the same. Thus, a city official should be aware of what authority the city is
acting under whenever making a particular decision.
Legislative authority
When creating, adopting, and amending land use plans and zoning ordinances, a city is making
law by exercising so-called “legislative” authority. The council sits as a body of elected
representatives to make plans and laws (ordinances) for the entire community to advance
health, safety, and welfare.
When acting legislatively, a city council can engage in far-ranging policy discussion, and sort
through competing views about what plans and laws would be in the best interest of the city.
Although not everyone may be on board with the outcome, the more public participation in the
law-making stage, the better the understanding among the public of why the city has a
particular plan or law in place.
The council has broad discretion when acting legislatively, and any reviewing court will give
the city considerable deference.
Quasi-judicial authority
In contrast, when applying existing plans and laws, a city council exercises so-called “quasi-
judicial” authority. The limited task is to determine the facts associated with a particular
request, and then apply those facts to the relevant law. A city council has less discretion when
acting quasi-judicially, and a reviewing court will examine whether the city council applied
rules already in place to the facts before it.
It can be helpful to visualize this as a “pyramid of discretion,” showing cities have greater
discretion when making land use decisions at the base of the triangle, and less as decision-
making moves up the pyramid. Discretion is greatest when officials are creating local laws and
the least when officials are administering those laws.
Land use disputes arise most o en when a city is applying laws, rather than when making law.
But a city usually has less ability to address the root of the dispute when applying the law, than
it would when making the law in the first instance.
Comprehensive plans
A comprehensive plan is a document that sets forth a vision and goals for the cityʼs future.
State law defines a comprehensive plan as a compilation of policies, goals, standards, and maps
for guiding the physical, social, and economic development — both public and private — of the
municipality and its environment (Minn. Stat. § 462.351). Its purpose is to guide future
development of land to ensure a safe, pleasant, and economical environment for residential,
commercial, industrial, and public activities (Minn. Stat. § 462.352, subd.5).
The comprehensive plan provides the foundation for all land use regulation in the city. State
law encourages all cities to prepare and implement a comprehensive municipal plan. In
addition, cities within the seven-county metro area are required to adopt comprehensive plans.
State law assigns the creation of the cityʼs comprehensive plan to its planning commission or
department
Planning is a professional field that encompasses a broad array of skills and techniques. In
developing comprehensive plans, many cities use educated, certified land use professionals.
But at its core, planning is a relatively straightforward three-step process:
1. The community takes stock of where it is today.
2. The community generates a shared vision and goals for what the city will be like in the
future.
3. The city develops a set of specific strategies to achieve that vision over time.
Learn more about planning commissions in the Planning Commission Guide
There are many reasons cities create and adopt comprehensive plans. The planning process
helps communities:
Identify issues before they arise.
Stay ahead of trends in land use development and redevelopment.
Anticipate and navigate change in populations and land use patterns.
Protect and make the most out of public investment by ensuring that development coincides
with investments in infrastructure.
Protect and promote the value of private property.
Provides legal justification for a communityʼs land-use decisions and ordinances.
The comprehensive plan itself can contain many different elements, and importantly, is not
limited in scope to land use.
The land use plan lays out desired timing, location, design, and density for future development,
redevelopment, or preservation. They also typically include plans for:
Public or community facilities.
Parks and open space.
Housing.
Natural resources.
Transportation.
Infrastructure.
Most comprehensive plans include a variety of maps, including a land use plan map showing
how the plan guides the future land use in different areas of the community.
Adopting and amending a comprehensive plan
State law provides processes cities must follow to adopt and amend a comprehensive plan.
Prior to adopting a comprehensive plan, the planning commission must hold at least one
public hearing. It must publish a notice of the time, place, and purpose of the hearing once in
the official newspaper of the municipality at least 10 days before the day of the hearing.
Unless otherwise provided in a city charter, the city council may — by resolution by a two-
thirds vote of all of its members — adopt and amend the comprehensive plan or a portion of the
plan. This means that on a five-member council, the comprehensive plan must receive at least
four affirmative votes. (Minn. Stat. § 462.355, subd. 2.)
A er a city has adopted a comprehensive plan, the council must refer all future plan
amendments to the planning commission for review and comment. The city council may not
act on any plan amendment until it receives the planning commissionʼs recommendation, or
until 60 days a er the date an amendment proposed by the city council has been submitted to
the planning commission for its recommendation.
The planning commission serves in a strictly advisory role when it submits review and
comment to the council. The city council ultimately decides on the acceptance, rejection, or
the revision of the plan, and is not bound by planning commission recommendations (Minn.
Stat. § 462.355, subd. 3).
Adopting and amending a comprehensive plan should be a dynamic public process with an eye
towards implementation. Public participation ensures broad and ongoing support, brings a
variety of information and perspectives, and instills a sense of community ownership in the
plan.
Once adopted, the city should actively consult the plan, periodically review it for consistency
with current policies and practices, and recommend amendments whenever necessary. State
law provides that comprehensive plans should be implemented through zoning and
subdivision regulations, as well as coordination of public improvements and city services, and
a capital improvements program. (Minn. Stat. § 462.356, subd. 1.)
Role of the Metropolitan Council
Cities in the seven-county metropolitan area must submit their comprehensive plan to the
Metropolitan Council for review of its compatibility and conformity with the Metropolitan
Councilʼs regional system plans.
When the Metropolitan Council finds a cityʼs comprehensive land use plan may have a
substantial impact on, or contains a substantial departure from the Metropolitan Councilʼs
regional system plans, the Council can require the city to conform to the Councilʼs system plans
(Minn. Stat. § 473.175). Metro area cities must review and update their plans, fiscal devices, and
official controls at least every 10 years, and submit their revised plans to the Metropolitan
Council for review (Minn. Stat. § 462.355, subd. 1a).
Zoning ordinances
State law authorizes a city zoning ordinance as a tool to implement a comprehensive plan.
Zoning is a method of establishing a land use pattern by regulating the way land is used by
landowners. A zoning ordinance has area standards that regulate the size and location of
buildings and structures in the city. Comprised of text and a map, most zoning ordinances also
typically divide a city into various zoning districts, and set standards regulating uses in each
district. (Minn. Stat. § 462.357).
Learn more about zoning in the Zoning Guide for Cities
“Area standards” are rules that constrain the size and location of buildings and other
structures. These typically include rules about building location and size, including height,
width, and bulk; the percentage of lot space that may be occupied; and required yards or open
spaces. Other standards might be performance standards such as related to density, parking, or
lighting.
Most zoning ordinances use a map to divide the community into zoning districts that establish
similar compatible land uses. By creating zoning districts that separate uses, the city can
provide adequate space for each and ensure that transition areas of buffers exist between
distinct and incompatible uses. Example zoning districts include residential, commercial,
industrial, and agricultural districts. Larger cities will o en have districts of varying density or
intensity, such as single-family residential and multi-family residential, or light industrial and
heavy industrial.
For each district, a zoning ordinance typically sets forth allowable uses and required
performance standards. The allowed uses o en are set forth in lists or use tables. They
typically include:
Permitted uses. These are generally the principal use of the land or building, and are allowed
without a public a hearing.
Accessory uses. These are allowed uses located on the same lot, subordinate or accessory to a
permitted use.
Conditional uses. A conditional use is one allowed a er a public hearing, only if the
landowner meets the general and specific standards set forth in the zoning ordinance. The
more specific and clear the standards set forth in the ordinance, the easier it will be to
administer.
State law mandates a procedure for the adoption or amendment of zoning ordinances (Minn.
Stat. §§ 462.357, subd. 2 – 5). The process includes:
The city council (or the planning commission if one exists) must hold a public hearing
before the city adopts or amends a zoning ordinance.
The city must publish a notice of the time, place, and purpose of the hearing in the official
newspaper of the municipality at least 10 days prior to the day of the hearing. In addition, if
an amendment to a zoning ordinance involves changes in district boundaries affecting an
area of five acres or less, a similar notice must be mailed at least 10 days before the day of
the hearing to each owner of affected property and property situated completely or partly
within 350 feet of the property to which the amendment applies.
Zoning ordinances must be adopted by a majority vote of all of the members of the council.
An important component of the zoning ordinance is the zoning ordinance map, which assigns
zoning districts to given parcels in the community. The city may change the zoning district
designation of a parcel from one zoning district to another (called “rezoning”), and it must be
done a er a public hearing. Rezoning is an amendment to the actual zoning ordinance, and the
procedures for amendments to the zoning ordinance apply.
State law, however, has a two-tiered voting requirement for rezoning of residential property.
When property is rezoned from residential to commercial or industrial, a two-thirds
majority of all members of the city council is required.
For other rezoning decisions, a simple majority vote of all members is all that is required.
Rezoning should be consistent with the comprehensive plan land use plan map (Minn. Stat. §
462.357, subd. 2).
Results of careful planning
Keeping city plans and ordinances current can save money and headaches. Land use conflicts
eventually confront most city officials — whether it is disagreements about the vision for the
future of the city, or disputes between neighboring property owners. In creating
comprehensive plans and adopting zoning ordinances, cities can proactively engage the public
to create ground rules for all.
Planning and zoning a community is a substantial undertaking that deserves thoughtful
consideration. The more effort a city puts in at the front end by adopting and amending plans
and ordinances, the easier it will be to administer. Plans and ordinances adopted years ago may
not be consistent with current vision. A capital improvement program, in particular, should be
regularly revisited for consistency with current conditions.
View more League land use resources
Your LMC Resource
Jed Burkett
Loss Control/Land Use Attorney
(651) 281-1247 or (800) 925-1122
jburkett@lmc.org