Legalectric

Surprise!!!

Last week, the City of Red Wing’s Advisory Planning Commission adopted a very narrow resolution to support Goodhue County’s silica sand zoning efforts.  The APC meeting was last Tuesday evening… who knew!?!?!  Not these residents of Red Wing!  Not a word on the Save the Bluffs listserve…

08 – Resolution Supporting Setbacks – APC 09-17-2013

So we went to the City Council meeting last night after checking the agenda.

The Red Wing city planner, Brian Peterson, did a good job making the proposed resolution relevant to Red Wing, using related Red Wing prior actions as the basis for the Resolution, changing the “one size doesn’t fit any” generic resolution to one that also acknowledges that the one mile setback from the river doesn’t even reach Highway 61, the Great River Road ostensibly at issue, in a number of places:

The Save the Bluffs organization recently made a request to the Red Wing City Council asking that the City adopt a resolution that supports the idea of Goodhue County establishing a one mile prohibition of silica sand mining operations from the high water mark of the Mississippi River. The City Council has asked the Advisory Planning Commission and the Sustainability Commission to meet to discuss the request and make a recommendation to the City Council. Attached is the draft resolution that was provided to the City by Save the Bluffs. It is a generic resolution drafted for municipalities and townships to weigh in their support for the idea of a setback.

Option # 1, is a revised resolution for your consideration. It acknowledges that the City of Red Wing has already taken action by amending its zoning regulations to include an overlay zone that prohibits mining operations in the bluff overlay zones. It also refers to one of the recommendation from the Silica Sand Mining report that the council adopted in 2012 that recommended the city to collaborate with Goodhue County and surrounding townships to establish regulations regarding these operations. Option #1 would simply
support the Save the Bluffs initiative.

Option #2, further revises the resolution by adding onto option #1 and supporting a larger prohibition area because bluffs within the view shed of Highway 61 would not be protected in areas located in Welch Township and Florence Township by a 1 mile setback from the Mississippi River. This resolution suggests that the prohibition area should be everything between I mile west of Highway 61 and the Mississippi River.

Option 2, in the packet above, was adopted last Tuesday, and last night, it was before the Red Wing City Council:

09C – Resolution 6601 Supporting Setbacks RE Mining Activities – CC 09-23-2013-1

What struck me when I finally did get a chance to review it was that the Resolution proffered, and in the part adopted by the APC, referenced Minnesota Statute 6125.8100.  Oh, right… Seems to me the first thing anyone should do is check the references, but nooooooo, so I asked that the Resolution be corrected to reflect that 6125.8100 is a RULE!  And Peterson did make that correction.  GOOD!

Now, let’s get the City of Red Wing address the other model Standards and Criteria the EQB is developing, and the four rulemaking proceedings!  Make it so!