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City staff recommends revised ETJ boundaries to focus growth corridors and protect agricultural areas
Summary
City planning staff presented a review of Minot’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and recommended retaining jurisdiction along major corridors and over city-owned lagoon-adjacent parcels while considering retraction of ETJ in low-development agricultural areas; staff urged coordination with county planners.
Principal planner Doug Deitrickson presented staff mapping of Minot’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), identifying areas of active development versus agricultural land and recommending targeted changes to clarify land-use authority.
Deitrickson told the council staff used GIS buffers and development proposals to mark areas with higher development potential, recommending the city maintain or expand ETJ along major corridors — including a proposed expansion northeast of the airport along 46th Avenue — and to annex city-owned parcels around the lagoons so the city controls adjacent land use. He also recommended working with the county to retract ETJ over agricultural areas with low development potential so those areas could be governed by county zoning better suited to farm uses.
When asked whether landowners would resist annexation or ETJ changes, Deitrickson said landowners would generally remain in an agricultural zoning designation if annexed and that staff would need to explain the future planning benefits; he noted county planning capacity is limited and recommended collaboration on any boundary changes.
Why it matters: ETJ boundaries determine which jurisdiction’s land-use code applies and affect future annexation, infrastructure planning, and permitting. Staff’s recommendations would give the city greater control near critical infrastructure and main corridors while reducing city responsibilities over largely agricultural areas.
What to watch next: Council did not vote on the recommendations; staff said this review supports a comprehensive-plan goal and that further work and county coordination are needed before formal changes.
