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Clay County adopts revised Land Development Ordinance after two-year review
Summary
After more than two years of drafting and monthly Planning Commission hearings, the Clay County Board of Commissioners adopted a revised Land Development Ordinance addressing zoning, shoreland, floodplain, and subdivision rules, with several clarifications requested during the public hearing.
After more than two years of public review, the Clay County Board of Commissioners adopted a comprehensive update to the Clay County Land Development Ordinance — covering zoning, shoreland, floodplain and subdivision regulations — and codified the changes as the county’s development code.
“After a little over two years of work on this, finally bringing this to the board for formal consideration,” Planning Director Matt told the board as he summarized the ordinance and its purpose during the June 3 public hearing. He said the update implements the county’s 2045 comprehensive and transportation plan and modernizes the code to reflect current development trends and state rules.
The ordinance update reorganizes and clarifies introductory provisions and nonconforming-use rules, adds permit exemptions for small accessory structures (144 square feet if on a foundation; 400 square feet if not on a foundation), and consolidates floodplain rules to align with the state and federal FEMA requirements. The draft also creates overlay protection districts for aggregate resources, biologically significant areas and wellhead protection and updates use tables and accessory-dwelling, wind/solar and agritourism rules.
Moorhead Public Service submitted written comments on the wellhead-protection overlay; Planning staff recommended keeping a phrase in the draft that requires commercial uses within the wellhead-protection district to connect to public sewer and water “if such systems are needed,” while clarifying that uses that do not require sewer are not forced to connect. Staff also proposed retaining prohibitions on bulk storage of hazardous materials and new underground storage tanks within the wellhead overlay and adding a definition for hazardous materials used in spill-response guidance.
During the hearing, resident speakers and county officials discussed minimum lot sizes, septic and groundwater protections, and how the ordinance balances agricultural uses with the desire for rural residential opportunities. Planning staff noted the draft reduces the formal review criteria in some permit processes to simplify administration and that the Planning Commission recommended the draft for adoption after monthly virtual hearings from July 2023 through April 2025.
Commissioner Baer moved to adopt “ordinance 20 20 five-five, amendment of the Clay County Land Development Ordinance, zoning and subdivision regulations,” with Commissioner Ebinger seconding. The motion carried unanimously on roll-call vote. County staff and the outside consultant SRF were thanked for their multi-year work on the update.
