The following regulations are necessary to accomplish the intent of this ordinance. They shall apply in all zoning districts, in addition to the specific district regulations, except where special provisions provide otherwise.

The jurisdiction of this ordinance shall apply to all the area of the county outside the incorporated limits of municipalities.

From and after the effective date of this ordinance and subsequent amendments, the use of all land and every building or portion of a building erected, altered in respect to height and area, added to or relocated, and every use within a building or use accessory thereto in the county shall be in conformity with the provisions of this ordinance. Any existing building or structure and any existing use of properties not in conformity with the regulations herein prescribed shall be regarded as nonconforming, but may be continued, extended or changed, subject to the special regulations herein provided with respect to nonconforming lots, structures and uses and subject to article 4.

In interpreting and applying the provisions of this ordinance, they shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, water quality and general welfare.

It is not intended by this ordinance to repeal, abrogate, annul, impair or interfere with any existing easements, covenants, deed restrictions, agreements, ordinances, rules, regulations or permits previously adopted or issued pursuant to law.

Where the provisions of this ordinance impose greater restrictions than those of any statute, other ordinance or regulation, the provisions of this ordinance shall be controlling. Where the provisions of any statute, other ordinance or regulation impose greater restrictions than this ordinance, the provisions of such statute, other ordinance or regulation shall be controlling.

When a specific law, rule or regulation is specified herein, said reference shall include any amendments thereto, or successor laws, rules and regulations.

No structure, land, water, or air shall hereafter be used without full compliance with the provisions of this ordinance and all other applicable local, county and state regulations. No structure or part thereof shall hereafter be located, erected, moved, reconstructed, extended, enlarged, converted, or structurally altered without either a land use permit or a building permit, whichever is required.

Any building or structure for which a land use permit or building permit has been issued and the construction of the whole or part of which has been started prior to the effective date of this ordinance may be completed and used in accordance with the plans and application of which said building permit was granted.

No building permit for a dwelling that is constructed on site or moved onto a site shall be issued unless a conforming sewage treatment system exists for the intended dwelling. If a conforming system does not exist, then one must be installed that meets all state, federal, and local requirements.

The county may enforce this ordinance with any of the following remedies:

A.

Cease and/or abate.

1.

Disclosure of responsible party. Upon the request of an enforcement officer, a responsible party or owner shall disclose the name of any other responsible party or owner known to him. This shall include but not be limited to the persons for whom he is acting, from whom he is leasing the property, to whom he is leasing the property, with whom he shares joint ownership, or with whom he has any contractual relationship.

2.

Enforcement officer authorized to enter. Upon permission granted by the responsible party or the possession of a warrant, an enforcement officer shall be authorized to enter any premises in the county for the purpose of enforcing and assuring compliance with the provisions of this ordinance. An enforcement officer need not obtain permission or a warrant to enter any premises in the county that are held open to the general public.

3.

Order to cease. In the event that a violation exists, in addition to all other remedies in this ordinance, including prosecution, the enforcement officer may order the owner and/or responsible party to cease and/or abate the violation. The written order shall contain the following:

a.

Names and addresses of the owner and responsible parties, if known;

b.

A description of the real estate sufficient for identification;

c.

A description and the location of the violation and the remedial action required to abate the violation;

d.

The abatement deadline, to be determined by the enforcement officer, allowing a reasonable time for the performance of any act required.

4.

Service. The enforcement officer shall order the person committing or maintaining such violation in writing to terminate and abate said violation and to remove such conditions or remedy such defects. Any one of the following methods of service shall be adequate:

a.

By personal service; or

b.

By mail, unless it is a written order which gives three days or less for the completion of the act it requires; or

c.

If the appropriate responsible party or owner cannot be determined or found after reasonable effort, by posting a copy of the order in a conspicuous place on the property.

5.

Appeal. The order shall contain a statement that it may be appealed at a hearing before the county board obtained by filing a written request with the zoning administrator or the designated enforcement officer before the appeal deadline which shall be the abatement deadline designated in the order or seven days after the date on the order, whichever comes first. The order shall further require the owner or occupant of such premises, or both, to take action within a reasonable time to abate and remove the violation. The maximum time for the removal of said violation after service of the order shall not in any event exceed 30 days. Service of the notice may be proved by affidavit of service by the enforcement officer, stating the manner and time of service.

6.

Abatement procedure.

a.

Abatement. If, after service of notice, the person served fails to abate the violation or make the necessary repairs, alterations, or changes in accordance with the order, the county board, following a hearing, may cause such violation to be abated and all abatement costs incurred by Meeker County shall be charged against the property as a special assessment to be collected in the manner provided.

b.

Notice. The enforcement officer shall mail a notice of the date, time and place and subject of the hearing to the owner and known responsible parties.

7.

Hearing. At the time of the hearing, the county board may hear the enforcement officer, the owner or responsible person, and such other parties who may offer relevant testimony. After the hearing, the county board may reverse, confirm or modify the order of the enforcement officer, or direct that the violation be abated, establishing a deadline for abatement.

8.

[Abatement actions.] Abatement may include, but shall not be limited to, the removal or cleaning of offending substances, vehicles, or objects; extermination of vermin; securing or boarding unoccupied or abandoned structures; barricading or fencing; removing dangerous portions of structures; demolition of dangerous structures or abandoned buildings; or otherwise cause compliance with this ordinance herein.

9.

[Abatement costs.] Abatement costs shall include the cost of the abatement; investigation such as title searches, inspection, testing, notification, filing and administration; and legal costs including attorney fees.

B.

Misdemeanor.

1.

Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions hereof or who shall fail to comply with any of the provisions hereof or who shall make any false statement in any document required to be submitted under the provisions hereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

2.

Any person, firm or corporation who is convicted of a violation of this ordinance shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or by imprisonment of not to exceed 90 days, plus in either case the cost of prosecution. Each day a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.

3.

All fines for violations shall be paid to the county and shall be credited to the designated fund.

4.

In the event of a violation hereof, the zoning administrator, the county board, or any member thereof, may institute appropriate actions or proceedings to prevent, restrain, correct, or abate such violation or threatened violation. Any costs incurred by the county hereunder may be, in the event the county prevails on any of its asserted claims, assessed against the affected property as a special assessment upon action by the county board certifying said costs to the county auditor.

C.

Civil fine. Any person found to be in violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance may be assessed a civil fine by the county board for an amount not to exceed the itemized expenses incurred by the county in enforcing the terms of the ordinance against the violator. Said amount shall be determined by the county board after the violator has been notified in writing of the date and time for an opportunity to contest the fine before the county board. In the event the fine remains unpaid for more than 30 days after final action, or if appealed and the appeal is concluded, the auditor shall certify the fine against the property in the same manner as a special assessment tax.

D.

[Enforcement actions.] Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 394.27, or successor statutes, the county attorney may institute such actions as may be necessary to enforce final decisions issued hereunder. This enforcement method is not exclusive, but is in addition to any other right, remedy or cause for action the county may have to eliminate or resolve violations of this ordinance. All such rights, remedies and causes of action may, in the county's sole discretion, be exercised separately or in conjunction with one another and with such frequency as the county deems appropriate.

It is hereby declared to be the intention that the several provisions of this ordinance are separable in accordance with the following:

A.

If any court of competent jurisdiction shall adjudge any provisions of this ordinance to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect any other provisions of this ordinance not specifically included in said judgment.

B.

If any court of competent jurisdiction shall adjudge invalid the application of any provision of this ordinance to a particular property, building or structure, such judgment shall not affect other property, buildings or structures.

It is the policy of the county board that the enactment, amendment, and administration of this ordinance be accomplished with due consideration of the purpose and objectives of the county land use plan as adopted or approved and amended from time to time by the board. The board recognizes that the land use plan is a guide for the future development of the county and the basis for the enactment of this ordinance.

Only the following uses shall be allowed in any district:

A.

Permitted uses as specified for the district.

B.

One accessory use or structure is permitted in any district until their principal structure is built. Accessory uses to residential district developments shall not involve the conduct of any business, trade or industry except for home and professional occupations as defined herein. Any accessory structure cannot be occupied as a separate dwelling unit.

C.

Dwelling units shall be confined to one building per lot except as allowed by conditional use.

D.

Conditional uses and their accessory uses shall be permitted in specified districts after review, public hearing and recommendation by the county planning commission and approval by the county board in accordance with procedures and standards established in this ordinance.

The building height regulations of this ordinance shall be modified as follows:

A.

There shall be a maximum height limitation set forth for each district for all structures within the county. Any structure that exceeds 150 feet in height must be granted a conditional use permit prior to construction, and then only after obtaining a letter of clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration and the airport commission for any airport located within ten miles of the structure proposed to exceed this height limitation.

B.

Height limitations set forth in the district regulations of this ordinance may be increased by 100 percent when applied to the following:

1.

Monuments.

2.

Flag poles.

3.

Windmills.

4.

Cooling towers.

5.

Grain elevators, bins, legs or storage structures used for the storage, drying or movement of agriculture products.

C.

Height limitations set forth in the district regulations of this ordinance may be increased after approval of a conditional use permit where applied to the following:

1.

Church spires, belfries or domes which do not contain usable space.

2.

Water towers.

3.

Chimneys or smokestacks.

4.

Tower, commercial wireless communications.

5.

Essential service structures.

6.

Movie screens.

7.

Grain elevators, bins, legs or storage structures used for the storage, drying or movement of agriculture products.

The building setback and yard requirements of this ordinance shall be modified as follows:

A.

Cornices, canopies, eaves, gutters or chimneys and fireplaces less than eight feet in length, may extend not more than two feet, six inches into the required yards.

B.

Landing and steps below the first floor level may extend into the required front yard a distance not exceeding eight feet and a total of 64 square feet or into a side yard not exceeding four feet and a total of 32 square feet.

C.

Decks, outside stairways, fire escapes, enclosed porches, balconies and other similar and attached projections shall be considered as part of the building and not allowed to encroach upon required space for yards.

D.

A wall, fence, hedge or ornamental feature may occupy part of the required yard except that:

1.

The required front yard of a corner lot shall not contain any wall, fence, other structure, tree, shrub or any other material which may cause danger to traffic by obscuring the view.

2.

On a corner lot in any district, no fence, wall, hedge, tree or other planting or structure that will obstruct vision above a height of 36 inches in height above the centerline grade of the intersecting streets shall be erected, placed or maintained within the triangular area bounded by the lot lines and a line connecting points on each lot line 50 feet from the intersection of such lot lines.

E.

When the majority of residential or commercial buildings have been built in an area at a time before the adoption of this ordinance, no building or structure hereafter erected or altered shall project beyond the average setback line established by existing structures on adjoining lots, provided no building shall be closer than 25 feet to the street right-of-way line, and no building shall be required to [be] set back more than the minimum required distance.

F.

Corner lots shall maintain a yard on both streets conforming to the requirements for front yards on those streets.

A.

No yard or lot existing at the time of passage of this ordinance shall be reduced in dimension or area below the minimum required by this ordinance.

B.

No part of a yard or other open space, or off-street parking or loading space provided about any building, structure or use for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this ordinance shall be included as part of a yard, open space or off-street parking or loading space required under this ordinance for another building, structure or use.

C.

Every building hereafter erected or structurally altered shall be located on a lot as herein defined and in no case shall there be more than one permitted principal building on one lot except that in agricultural, commercial and industrial districts more than one permitted principal building may be located on one lot providing that all buildings shall meet all other requirements as set forth in this ordinance as though it were on an individual lot.

D.

No proposed plat of a new subdivision shall be approved unless the lots within such plats equal or exceed the minimum requirements as delineated for the district in which the property is located. The plats shall further conform to all other statutes of the State of Minnesota and ordinances and regulations of the county. All buildings hereafter erected upon unplatted land shall be so placed that they will not obstruct proper street extensions or other features, or proper subdivision and land platting.

E.

If two or more lots or combination of lots and portions of lots with continuous frontage or common property line are in single ownership, the following provisions shall apply. No building, structure or use shall be constructed, altered, expanded or developed except in conformity with these provisions and such other applicable provisions of this ordinance.

1.

Unless accepted herein, each individual lot of record shall be dealt with as an individual lot in all cases, even though in common ownership with adjacent lots of record.

a.

Exception. An owner may combine two or more adjacent lots into a single lot for a building, structure or use by filing with the zoning administrator and county recorder a form combining the lots into one lot for such purposes. Said form can be obtained from the zoning administrator's office. Once filed and recorded, all provisions of this or any successive ordinance shall apply to the joined lots taken as a whole.

2.

No new or existing structure or use on a lot of record shall be constructed, altered or expanded in any manner which would be at variance with the provisions of this ordinance. Common ownership with adjacent parcels shall not be considered grounds for a variance.

F.

In no event shall off-street parking space, structures of any type, buildings or other features cover more than 25 percent of the lot area in residential districts.

Subject to specific requirements as set forth herein, notices of meetings, public hearings, and viewings if a quorum exists shall be in writing, contain the date, time, place and purpose of the meeting and be posted on the principal bulletin board of the county. The notice shall also be mailed or otherwise delivered to each person who has filed a written request for notice of meeting with the zoning administrator. This notice shall be posted and mailed or delivered at least three days before the date of the meeting.

A.

As an alternative to posting, mailing, or delivering, notice of the meeting may be published once, at least three days before the meeting, hearing, or viewing in the official newspaper of the county.

B.

For emergency meetings, notice shall comply with Minnesota Statutes § 471.705.

C.

Meetings may be recessed or continued without additional notice if the time and place of the meeting is established during the previous meeting and recorded in the minutes of that meeting.

In making findings, recommendations, and decisions herein, the county board, the planning commission, and the board of adjustment may consider any relevant evidence, regardless of source, including, without limitation:

A.

The application and its attachments;

B.

Statement and materials presented at the public hearing and made part of the record;

C.

Studies, reports, and consultant's recommendations commissioned by the county, or furnished by the applicant or other persons;

D.

First-hand observations (viewing);

E.

Treatises, maps, or other published materials;

F.

Ability or willingness of the applicant to comply with the permit or this ordinance; or

G.

Recommendation of other boards or governing bodies.

Members of decision-making bodies are not precluded from conducting their own research and including their findings in the record. Decision-making bodies may reject evidence that is not relevant or unsubstantiated.

Public hearings shall be conducted under such rules as the board or commission shall establish.

This provision only applies when an easement or fee title is required, as determined by the county board of commissioners, for construction, repair or improvement to a road or highway maintained by Meeker County. At the discretion of the county board, if the easement or fee title either:

A.

Results in the permanent splitting of a parcel of property such that any remaining portion is now less than 20 acres square; or

B.

Results in a taking (whether by permanent easement or fee) of more than 30 percent of a parcel; or

C.

Results in the parcel becoming nonconforming for its normal and customary use with regard to the rules and regulations herein;

then the county board may, in its sole discretion, as part of negotiations and agreements entered into for the acquisition of the easement for fee title, approve a plan for the use and subdividing of the portion of the affected parcel that meets this criterion. Said plan may deviate from the rules and regulations of this ordinance and the comprehensive land use plan, in notice requirements for a conditional use permit. If agreed upon by the owner and lienholders of the parcel, the approved plan shall be executed in recordable form, filed in the office of the county recorder, and enforceable in the same fashion as a conditional use permit under articles 6A and 3 herein. Except for the provisions contained in the plan, the parcel shall be subject to all other terms of this ordinance or any successor thereto.

This provision is not available as part of any relief, award or judgment issued by any court in a condemnation action. It is only available if negotiated and approved by the county board of commissioners. This provision recognizes that the need for safe roads and highways that provide necessary access to all parts of the county is a high priority. This need, may, by necessity, alter the character and use availability of a parcel of property through no fault of its owner. This provision is designed to allow the parties to contemplate and possibly implement alternatives to condemnation that may better serve the interests of the parties.