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County board approves aggregate-mining interim permit, wetland subdivision, and two ordinance amendments
Summary
Blue Earth County board approved an interim use permit for an aggregate mine tied to the State Highway 60 reconstruction, approved a two-outlot wetland subdivision with access clarifications, and adopted ordinance amendments establishing adaptive-reuse rules and outdoor storage rules for home occupations.
Blue Earth County commissioners approved multiple planning and zoning items Feb. 25, including an interim use permit for aggregate extraction tied to the State Highway 60 project, a subdivision that will allow future wetland restoration work, and ordinance updates to authorize adaptive reuse and to regulate outdoor storage for home occupations.
Scott Salisbury, county land use planner, presented PC 03-25, an interim use permit request from the Judy H. Romine Meyer Trust and Mathowitz Construction Company for an aggregate mine and material processing site to support the State Highway 60 reconstruction. The permit covers a site in Judson Township; staff said operations would begin in April 2025 and the site would be fully reclaimed in 2026. The planning commission recommended approval with added conditions including dust control, noise mitigation and a condition capturing the township request related to grading and adding gravel to 200th Street. Commissioners approved the interim use permit.
On PC 04-25 the board approved a minor subdivision (Dakins Wetland) creating two outlots that include part of Dakins Lake. County staff and the applicants (John A. Thomas and Brian Ingalls) told the planning commission that Outlot A will not receive a new access onto County Road 109 and that access exists from the west; a neighboring landowner raised concerns about a narrow panhandle connection that lies about 30 feet from his residence. Staff and a wetland specialist said the project is intended for wetland restoration and that any future development would require a replat and additional approvals; the board voted to approve the subdivision based on staff findings.
The board also adopted two ordinance amendments to chapter 24 of the Blue Earth County Code of Ordinances. PC 05-25 establishes definitions, standards and processes for adaptive reuses; PC 06-25 establishes definitions and processes for home-occupation outdoor storage and settled on a four-acre threshold for allowable outdoor storage area. Planning staff said both items had been reviewed in prior work sessions and that the planning commission voted unanimously to forward recommendations for approval.
The planning session included a separate request to accept township consent for issuing retail cannabis registrations; the board accepted consent from Lime Township and Mankato Township, noting the county ordinance limits retail registrations to one per 12,500 residents and caps countywide retail registrations at six.
Commissioners said they expect planning staff to monitor haul routes and community impacts during the State Highway 60 project and that any future development on the wetland outlots would require additional county review.
