Eden Prairie moves to align shoreland rules with DNR: council approves first reading of rewrite

The Eden Prairie City Council on Jan. 6 approved the first reading of an ordinance to repeal and replace city code section 11.5 (shoreland management) to align the city’s code with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) model ordinance where practicable.

Water resources coordinator Lori Hack described the scope and rationale for the rewrite: nearly half the city lies in the shoreland zone, which encompasses areas within 1,000 feet of a lake’s ordinary high water mark or 300 feet of a stream’s ordinary high water mark and related floodplain. Hack said the city worked with DNR and obtained preliminary, conditional approval in October for proposed changes tailored to Eden Prairie’s largely developed context.

Key elements outlined by Hack include adding the ordinary high water elevation to the code, correcting the city’s DNR stream classifications, codifying vegetation management plan requirements (administrative approvals that staff have long applied), relaxing rules for certain water‑oriented accessory structures, and refining the definition of impervious surface. Hack said the DNR model originally proposed a 25% impervious surface maximum but that Eden Prairie and DNR negotiated compromise limits — 30% in rural/R1 areas and 70% in other zones — based on the city’s development patterns and easement/land‑acquisition protections.

Planning Commission recommended approval; council held the required public hearing and approved the first reading by voice vote. Hack said docks and boat‑house rules are governed elsewhere in the code and that existing boathouses remain grandfathered where allowed by DNR rules.

Next steps: The ordinance will return for a second reading and final adoption; staff noted they will communicate the changes and work with lake associations and the watershed district on implementation details.