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City staff unveil 'Boost' code‑modernization plan to simplify zoning and speed reviews
Summary
Forest Lake staff introduced 'Boost,' a phased code‑modernization effort to improve readability, internal consistency and administrative efficiency in the zoning code; staff said early packages will focus on administrative procedures and process fixes, with ongoing public and commission engagement.
Forest Lake — City planning staff introduced the "Boost" initiative, a phased program to modernize and simplify the city’s zoning code to reduce delays and make rules easier for residents and applicants to use.
The staff presenter described Boost (Better Ordinances and Ongoing Streamlined Transformation) as a multi‑package effort focused initially on administrative procedures, consistency, and readability. “Boost is our version of taking this one piece at a time,” the presenter said, outlining four core goals: readability, internal consistency, administrative efficiency and predictable development review.
Why it matters: staff said decades of incremental changes have created a code that can be difficult to navigate, with duplicated or conflicting provisions that slow reviews and create uncertainty for applicants. Early packages will target the most common sources of delay (permit sequencing, duplicated certificate requirements and unnecessary hearings) and aim to repurpose staff and consultant work already completed with MSA and Bolton & Manc.
Staff described a staged public process: discussion drafts and package reviews with the Planning Commission, committee check‑ins where necessary, public hearings and then recommendations to the City Council. The first boost packages will concentrate on improving internal processes and administrative steps to shorten development review cycles; later packages will address uses and standards.
Commissioners and the council liaison supported the approach while urging care on schedule and policy alignment. Councilperson Larson called the initiative “tremendous” and said organizing code work and clarifying the budget presented to residents helped calm concerns during council deliberations.
Staff also said Boost will use peer comparisons (a list of nearby or similar communities) and targeted consultant work where needed; they invited commissioners and members of the public to suggest priorities. Several commissioners pressed staff to preserve substantive differences between zone types (for example MXR‑1 vs. rural residential) where warranted and to ensure council policy guidance is incorporated early in later packages.
Next steps: staff will continue development of Package 1 (administrative/process efficiencies) over the next months, return to the commission with discussion drafts, and stage public hearings and council consideration on a package‑by‑package basis.
