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Environmental Services reports rising septic permits and steady shoreland development
Summary
Director Brent Rude told the board septic permits have trended upward over 14 years (partly driven by a 2015 ordinance and 2024 permit transfers), building permits issued by the county are slightly down for shoreland areas, and plats have begun to appear more frequently after a multi‑year lull.
Brent Rude, Environmental Services Director, briefed commissioners on permitting trends. Rude said septic permits (the largest category the department issues) show a steady upward trajectory over the past 14 years; he attributed part of that rise to a 2015 ordinance that required compliance inspections on transfer of property and to the county taking over permitting for a joint planning board area in 2024. Building permits that the county issues (limited to shoreland areas) were on a slight downward trend, Rude said, noting some townships issue their own permits and the county’s figures reflect only a subset of the county’s shoreland development.
Rude also noted an uptick in plats after years of few subdivisions, said the AIS (aquatic invasive species) decontamination station at the county’s new storage site is operating, and reminded commissioners of a noxious‑weed meeting set for June 16. He told commissioners that the timing of spring construction and late winters can influence permit counts in year‑to‑date comparisons.
The board asked about cannabis conditional‑use permits; Rude said the county has issued one conditional‑use permit for a cannabis retail facility north of Bemidji and that the county’s ordinance caps the number of licenses (phrased under state statute as one license per a fixed population increment), currently allowing up to four countywide under the local ordinance.
