Olmsted County adopts change to land-use amendment process after public hearing; adds criterion on neighboring impacts

The Olmsted County Board of Commissioners voted to adopt a text amendment to the county’s General Land Use Plan (GLUP), amending the process for map and text changes and adding a specific criterion requiring applicants and recommending bodies to address impacts to neighboring properties in urban service area decisions.

Planning Director Dave Dunn told the board the amendment “is really geared to create a procedural modification to the way that text amendments or map text amendments are done for the general land use plan,” and that staff recommended approval after working with city and township partners.

The amendment clarifies who receives an application, sets response timelines for townships and cities (townships: 60 days or two regular meetings, whichever is longer; county: an additional 60 days for Planning Commission and board review), and adds a new criterion (number 9) focused on urban service area modifications. The board adopted an additional explicit sentence to that criterion — requested during the meeting — asking applicants to explain “how this proposal impacts surrounding properties and whether it creates future…