WHAT'S THE USE?

Land use, that is!
During the latest Agritourism Task Force meeting, at which I was one of four members of the public, it was stated that those on the committee thought that "most people" do not know much about the different types of land use that Eureka allows or the sections of the Ordinance that refer to them.  They had been debating whether, at the upcoming open house on December 12th, to even bring up the topic of possibly allowing agritourism under different "levels" of use, such as a Conditional Use Permit or an Interim Use Permit, or whether that would just confuse people at this stage.

 So, assuming they may be right, I will attempt to simply spell out for you some of the uses and regulations as I understand them after six years in public office and many training/informational sessions.

First, there are the "permitted uses," those that are allowed as long as they conform to any parts of the Ordinance that are intended to regulate them. Pages 48 and 49 of the Ordinance list eleven different uses and structures that fall into this category.  Some people call these "straight" permitted uses.



For example, think of a house.  It is allowed under our Ordinance that a house can be built in the agricultural zone (which is all of the Township) under certain restrictions such as density.  As to another regulating part of the Ordinance that would apply, think setbacks or the Minnesota Building Code, which has been adopted in our local laws. One can apply for a building permit for most houses without any special procedure or outlay of cash, such as with a public hearing; just Planning Commission and Town Board review and approval (along, now, with VRWJPO approval for those in the Vermillion Watershed), and accompanying Building Inspector involvement are required.

Another type of allowed or permitted use is a Conditional Use Permit (CUP).  It was stated at the Task Force meeting (and then, mercifully, corrected by a couple of other members), that "a CUP is not a permitted use."  Yes, it certainly is a permitted use (Ordinance allows it after all!), but is a category of use with the provision for attaching conditions which are deemed needed to mitigate the negative impacts of these types of uses.

Page 49 (use link above) lists eight of these "special" uses that Eureka allows. Although one current Board member took great issue with me in the past when I mentioned the "negative impacts" of certain uses, (He apparently didn't think there was such a thing!) CUPs are for uses that by their very nature may involve such things as greater traffic, noise, and so on. These negative impacts may occur at a greater intensity for conditional uses than those accompanying the "permitted uses" mentioned above.  (A school generates more traffic than a residence.) Because of that, the Township is able to place conditions on conditional uses so as to lessen these impacts. These conditions must be related to the negative impact and reasonable.

It is important to note that the Township has, practically speaking, one shot at affixing conditions, and that is when issuing the CUP.  After that point, conditions may be applied, but the CUP holder must agree to them. Not always, if ever, a likely scenario. 
However, if any already existing CUP is altered, the Ordinance provides another opportunity to attach conditions as if it were for a new CUP. (pages 80 and 81 of the Ordinance)


As an example of this type of use, a school may be granted a CUP under our Ordinance.  The Township would apply the usual items such as Building Inspector review, but can (and should) also attach conditions, such as a certain amount of off-street parking or bus drop-off and pick-up sites on the property.  Provisions such as those would alleviate congestion on public roads, thus positively affecting the public as well as school families and staff.


OTHER IMPORTANT FACETS OF CUPS:
*A public hearing is required for any CUP to allow for public input.  The public has the right to speak at these hearings, unlike at public meetings, where one has the right to observe decisions being made.
*It is also important to note that, since a CUP IS A PERMITTED USE, if the applicant agrees to abide by the related and reasonable conditions proposed by the Township, the Township MUST grant the CUP.
*Another feature of a CUP is that it does not have an expiration date, in the normal course of things.
*It also "runs with the land."  If the property is sold, the new owner receives the CUP along with the acreage.
*A CUP cannot be transferred to another piece of property, although this request has been made of Town officials in the past. (The person in question was correctly told "no" by a Planning Commissioner.)
*One last item here, is that there actually are a few CUPs in our Township with no conditions attached at all!  Figure that one out!
*Pages 89-83 outline the requirements and procedure for granting CUPs.


Another type of use is the Interim Use Permit (IUP), currently used for gravel mining and personal airstrips.  This type of allowed use is very similar in many ways to a CUP: it also requires a public hearing, conditions are also to be attached, it also "runs with the land," and it has a similar provision for criteria to be used in granting one. (Pages 83-86)  If the applicant agrees to all reasonable and related conditions, the Township must grant it.

The one thing that is noticeably different with an IUP is that it has a sunset date or event.  This is most easily seen in the case of gravel mining.  A gravel IUP would sunset when the gravel is gone- a sunset event.  It may instead have a sunset date for when the gravel might be expected to run out.  If the gravel has not all been mined by that date, the IUP could be applied for again, providing the use is still allowed.

I have in an earlier post outlined how I think some of this would apply to Agritourism.  (See "The Postman Cometh.") You may be interested to know that the committee has decided to go with the "principal use" and "accessory use" designations at this time.  These will be some of the items that you will be asked to give feedback on.

I hope that the explanation above makes things a little clearer for those of you not familiar with these things.  Perhaps, feeling a little comfortable with them, one might be more inclined to attend the open house on December 12th, Thursday, 6:30-8:30, at the Town Hall.

See you there?!