Resource: Big House/Small Lot Shoreland Ordinance

Title:	Big House/Small Lot Shoreland Ordinance
Resource type:	Ordinances/rules
Topics:	Buildings, Water
Keywords:	monster houses, McMansions, run-off, sustainable lakes, vacation homes, year-round homes
Audience:	Government
Region:	Northwest
Summary:	Becker County commissioners adopted an ordinance in 2008 that allows people to rebuild on nonconforming (smaller) lots, but requires stormwater runoff mitigations.
Content:	Concern about lake runoff from the replacement of cabins/cottages with large houses and urban amenities on small lots drove creation this ordinance. It replaces the more time-consuming variance process now used to approve cabin replacements, which had few stormwater approval standards. See the web page below for a 6-page worksheet on the mitigations, which include: * Restoring shoreline vegetative buffers * Re-establishing shoreline berms * Disposing of roof drainage on site * Using a porous paver system instead of an asphalt or gravel driveway * Removing impervious surface in the shore impact zone.
Website:	http://www.co.becker.mn.us/dept/planning_zoning/forms.aspx
Suggested by:	Philipp Muessig
Added:	09/26/08
Updated:	08/12/11