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MPCA flagged permit requirement at duplex site; Richmond may tighten guidance on near‑acre disturbances
Summary
Commissioner Ken Gertken reported that the MPCA inspected a duplex construction site and said the contractor should have pulled a permit because disturbed land exceeded one acre; the city is considering guidance encouraging permits when parcels are close to an acre.
Commissioner Ken Gertken told the Planning Commission that building‑permit activity has increased and discussed a duplex development where the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency inspected the site. "The MPCA was on the property last week and said the contractor (Gertken) should’ve pulled a permit due to it being over one acre of disturbed land," he said, while noting that before the work began the land had been just shy of an acre.
Gertken said the city is considering a new local practice that would encourage contractors to pull a permit when a parcel is "close" to one acre to avoid regulatory problems. The commission did not take formal regulatory action at the March 26 meeting; the discussion was informational and framed as guidance for future projects.
The transcript identifies Ken Gertken as both a commissioner and the contractor who performed dirt work on the duplex site; the record notes the MPCA visit but does not include the contractor’s or MPCA’s formal report or a permit number.
