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Council amends code to allow permanent hoop structures in industrial and institutional zones
Summary
After planning commission review and public comment, Inver Grove Heights council approved an ordinance to allow permanent hoop structures in certain nonresidential districts with limits on permitted stored materials and zoning-based size/number restrictions.
The Inver Grove Heights City Council on Monday approved an ordinance amendment that allows permanent hoop structures in the city's industrial and institutional zoning districts while keeping prohibitions in residential districts.
Director Zemer and planning staff told the council the change responds to variance requests and a planning commission review. The code amendment maintains existing prohibitions in residential districts and keeps exemptions for agricultural zoning but would allow permanent hoop structures in I-1 and I-2 and institutional districts. The amendment limits uses within those structures to "only" salt, sand, landscaping materials, mulch and special soils, and applies existing zoning limits for accessory buildings (size, number and impervious surface percentages) to hoop structures.
Zoning language would also tie allowances in agriculture districts to the minimum lot size for that zoning instead of a flat 2.5-acre threshold. Planning staff said the proposal stems from variance requests denied in August 2024 and subsequent council direction to review hoop structures citywide. The Planning Commission recommended approval 6-1 after one business owner spoke in favor at the public hearing.
Council discussion focused on two implementation issues: how to treat machinery and mobile equipment, which staff and commissioners said should not be stored in hoop structures because those items more properly fall under outdoor storage regulations, and the material and durability of temporary versus permanent hoop structures. Council members said they were comfortable relying on building-code structural requirements for permanent structures while expressing concern about temporary coverings that deteriorate quickly. "If it's a permanent structure that's going to be there for a while, then the material's going to have to match," a staff member said; councilors noted code and building inspectors would enforce deteriorating coverings and that complaints would typically trigger compliance review.
After discussion a councilor moved to approve the ordinance as presented; the motion carried. The ordinance update ties hoop-structure allowances to applicable accessory-structure standards and clarifies permitted contents and zoning limits.
