1996-10-24_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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Spring/Summer 1996 WATFR TALK Page 9 +~~~ e~ By Ed Fick The Natural Resources Block Grant adminis- tered by the Board of Water and Soil Resources (B WSR), requires the 85 counties receiving this grant to file an annual report discussing each county's activities related to water planning, wetland conser- vation, shoreland management, and feed lot manage- ment activities. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) summarized and analyzed shoreland management activities reported by the 85 counties who received a portion of the $528,000 the DNR provides annually for administering and enforcing the Minnesota shoreland Management Program. .The graphics display administrative and enforcement activities by counties in response to funding provided by the State of Minnesota. It should be noted that the DNR allocated the funding based on a formula that takes into account miles of lake and river shoreland and the amount of shoreland which is in private ownership and contained within the legal boundaries of each county. Publicly-awned land was excluded since counties do not administer shoreland controls over that land. to be expected since zoning ordinances typically spell out conditions expected to be met by local govern- mental units (LGU) and if the applicant meets those conditions, it~is up to the LGU to prove that the application. is deficient.. The second graphic shows the trends for variances in the state. Minnesota Statutes put the burden of proof on the applicant, not the LGU: The counties proved to be slightly more selective with regards to variances, approving 1374 out of 1699 for 81% approval. Many veteran county zoning officials pointed out they often advise applicants not to apply for a variance that will be denied outright, and often make changes and negotiate the variances they do approve, thus the 81% may not tell the whole story. Variances Denied 5'/° Tabled 14% :k fi v i~-a,,gs ~ ~a ~..-~ $° Li 81'/° Granted Conditional Use Permits Denied Tabled 6% 7% ,- ~~ r.. ~~.; s7% Granted The first graphic shows that out of 701 applications for conditional use permits, 609 were approved, or 87%. These numbers are about what is If there are any questions about this material, or if you would like a copy of the report, please contact Ed Fick at (612) 296-0528 or by writing to DNR - Division of Waters 500 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155-4032 ^ Department of ~ Natural Resources Division of Waters Printed on Recycled Paper ~i Contains 15% postconsumer waste