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Commission discusses Pelican River Watershed District rule changes; staff to reassert shoreland permitting
Summary
After local press coverage, staff told the commission the Pelican River Watershed District removed some shore-impact-zone permitting from its rules; the city will resume enforcement of shoreland regulations and require zoning permits for tree removal, grading, filling and other shoreland work.
Commissioners discussed recent changes to Pelican River Watershed District rules reported in the local paper. Staff said the watershed district pared back permitting in the shore impact zone; historically the watershed district had both its own rules and a memorandum of understanding under which it administered some local shoreland permits concurrently. Under the new rules, the watershed district will no longer issue certain shore-impact-zone permits, so the city must resume direct enforcement of its shoreland regulations.
"Everybody who gets a mitigation permit from us still has to get a watershed district permit and everybody who gets a land disturbance permit from us still needs to get a watershed district permit," staff said, but added that the key change was that the watershed district removed shore-impact-zone permit authority from its new rules. Staff said the city has updated its zoning-permit requirements to explicitly require a zoning permit for work in the shore impact zone, including tree removal, grading and filling. Commissioners said they would refresh internal procedures to ensure consistent enforcement.
Staff characterized the change as manageable but said it requires staff to 'refresh' how shoreland permits are handled; the commission did not take formal action but discussed next administrative steps.
