Brooklyn Park adopts zoning code amendments tied to 2040 comprehensive plan

On July 29 the Brooklyn Park City Council voted to adopt Ordinance #2024‑1304, amending Chapters 150, 151, 152 and 153 (Title XV: Land Usage) to align the zoning code with the Brooklyn Park 2040 comprehensive plan and to incorporate MRCCA (Mississippi River Critical Corridor Area) provisions.

Planning Director Paul Mogush presented the amendments and said they include language addressing shore impact zones, setbacks and limitations on mass clearing of riverbank vegetation. Mogush told the Council that existing nonconforming structures located within setback lines would not be ordered removed: "If there was a house that existed over one of those lines, no one would be knocking on the door to make them tear down the house," he said, while noting future lateral expansions would be subject to the variance process.

Council members pressed staff on practical impacts: who bears the cost of erosion prevention (staff said private property owners typically own the land to the water’s edge), how the ordinance works with DNR oversight, and whether the city could be compelled by the state to adopt MRCCA language. Mogush said the DNR could pursue legal action where adoption was avoided and that the ordinance contains permitting to reduce harmful vegetation removal along rivers.

The motion to waive reading and adopt the ordinance on second reading passed with six votes in favor and one abstention (Council Member Boyd Morson). The Council also approved the text of the summary finding that it clearly informs the public of the ordinance’s intent and effect (same vote). No effective date was specified in the meeting minutes.