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Environmental staff briefs board on how ‘bluffs’ are defined and why the county restricts development
Summary
Senior environmental specialist Nick Newman gave a technical briefing on the county’s bluff standard, explaining the measurements used to identify bluffs, the rationale for setbacks and the environmental risks that motivate stricter local rules than the state baseline.
Nick Newman, senior environmental specialist with Stearns County Environmental Services, presented a training for the Board of Adjustment explaining how the county determines bluff areas, why bluffs matter for shoreline protection, and how the county’s standard differs from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) methodology.
Newman told the board there are three primary criteria the county uses to map bluffs in shoreland areas: proximity to water (within 1,000 feet of a lake or 300 feet of a river), a slope that rises at least 25 feet above the water, and a horizontal 50‑foot transect in which at least a portion of the slope exceeds 30 percent. He explained the top of the bluff is…
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