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The ridgelines that dot the horizon in Winona County will be further restricted from development after county leaders strengthened a proposed bluff protection ordinance last week.
Now, the law of the land in Winona County will include more stringent bluff protection standards, for the most part, than neighbors Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston and Wabasha counties.
Bluff developments on slopes greater than 18 percent will become prohibited after the zoning ordinance is in place, save for a provision that would allow a property owner to seek a variance from the rules. The board further tempered the restrictions by leaving the proposed possibility of developments on slopes between 18 and 25 percent with a conditional use permit (CUP), but only within hilly areas not meeting the definition of an actual bluff.
Bluffs throughout the county are defined as at least a 100-foot segment with an average slope exceeding 18 percent. Structures for most of the county would have to be set back at least 100 feet from the top of the bluff, and those within a one-mile corridor from the median of Highway 61 will be pushed back at least 300 feet from the top of the bluff. Additionally, properties within the one-mile specially protected area would need a CUP to build on slopes between 12 and 18 percent. Structures built on slopes greater than 12 percent would require an engineered erosion control plan.
County Board Chair Marcia Ward seemed a bit wary of the ordinance, but agreed to the 18 percent slope prohibition. She seemed reassured that there would still be a variance option for some relief from the rules, as technological advances have made building on varying slopes more safe and sound. She also said that the more structures are pushed back from the tops of bluffs, more blufftop farm land will be impacted.
Some commissioners also wanted to see the county use “viewshed analysis” tools more heavily within the ordinance. Such an analysis can predict where a structure might be seen from below using topographic data, but it doesn’t account for vegetative cover, other structures or other physical traits that might block a structure from view.
The current draft includes using viewshed analysis as a tool to evaluate certain developments that require CUPs or other staff approval. But commissioner Jim Pomeroy and Ward said that using the tool in that way could open the door to arbitrary decisions that include too much interpretation from approval bodies.
Commissioners asked that county planning staff bring back some options for how the viewshed analysis could be used as more of an absolute tool. For such an analysis to be used in that way, county leaders would have to decide on a reference point where views should be protected, such as county roads that run through valleys.
Manure spills
Commissioners reiterated their desire Tuesday that neighbors to any major manure or chemical spill should be notified by county staff within 24 hours.
In what has amounted to a tug-of-war between county staff and the County Board and Planning Commission, staff first left out the changes requested by the Planning Commission during its zoning ordinance review, then continued to argue against the changes even after the County Board approved the notification language by consensus.
Staff had argued that requiring neighbor notification, especially with a 24-hour time limit attached, could make the county liable to suits if, for some reason, they couldn’t get the job done.
Planning Commission member Barb Nelson first introduced the provision months ago. A major manure spill contaminated her well along with three neighbors’ in the recent past, and no one notified them that their groundwater could be tainted. Nelson and her neighbors had to discover the spill themselves, something she said needs to be prevented. “We seemed to be the last people the county wanted to know about the spill,” she said.
Commissioners opted for a compromise, and changed the language to read that county staff must “attempt” to notify residents within a 1/2 mile radius of the spill within 24 hours.
The Winona County Board will continue its review of the proposed new zoning ordinance on Tuesday during a work session scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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