This article is adopted pursuant to the authority conferred by the state in Minn. Stats. § 462.357, as it may be amended from time to time, and for the purpose of:

(1)

Promoting and protecting the public health, safety, and general welfare of the residents of the incorporated area of the City;

(2)

Protecting and preserving the physical character, social, and economic stability of residential, commercial, industrial, and other use areas;

(3)

Securing the most appropriate use of land;

(4)

Preventing the overcrowding of the land and undue congestion of population;

(5)

Providing adequate light, air, and reasonable access;

(6)

Facilitating adequate and economical provision of transportation, water supply, and sewage disposal; and

(7)

Planning for location of schools, recreation facilities, and other public requirements.

(Code 1980, § 14.01; Code 2015, § 153.001)

This article shall be known as "The Zoning Code of Maple Plain, Minnesota," and will be referred to herein as "this article."

(Code 1980, § 14.02; Code 2015, § 153.002)

The jurisdiction of this article shall apply to all of the area within the corporate limits of the City.

(Code 1980, § 14.03; Code 2015, § 153.003)

(a)

In their application and interpretation, the provisions of this article shall be held to the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, and welfare.

(b)

Where the conditions imposed by any provision of this article are either more or less restrictive than comparable conditions imposed by any law, code, statute, resolution, or regulation of any kind, the regulations which are more restrictive or which impose higher standards or requirements shall prevail.

(c)

No structure shall be erected, converted, enlarged, reconstructed, or altered without first obtaining a building permit, and no structure or land shall be used for any purpose nor in any manner which is not in conformity with the provisions of this article. Application for a building permit shall be made to the City Administrator on blank forms to be furnished by the City. Each application for a permit to construct or alter a building shall be accompanied by a plan drawn to scale showing the dimensions of the lot to be built upon and the size and location of the building and accessory buildings to be erected. Applications for any kind of building permit shall contain the other information as may be deemed necessary for the proper enforcement of this article or any other. The City Administrator shall issue the building permit only after determining that the building plans, together with the application, comply with the terms of this article.

(Code 1980, § 14.04; Code 2015, § 153.004)

All lots which are a part of a subdivision legally recorded with the County Recorder, and lot or lots described by metes and bounds, the deed to which has been recorded in the office of the County Recorder prior to the passage of this article shall be considered to be lots of record and shall thereby be considered a legally buildable lot even though the lot may not conform to the minimum requirements of this article, provided the setback requirements of this article are complied with insofar as practical.

(Code 1980, § 14.06; Code 2015, § 153.005)

For purposes of this article, words used in the singular number include the plural, and the plural the singular; the present tense includes the past and future tenses and the future the present; the term "shall" is mandatory and the term "may" is permissive; all measured distances shall be to the nearest integral foot.

(Code 1980, § 15.01; Code 2015, § 153.006)

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Accessory means a use, activity, structure, or part of a structure that is subordinate and incidental to the main activity or structure on the site.

Accessory building means a subordinate building, whether permanent or temporary, which is located on the lot of the main building and the use of which is clearly incidental to the use of the main building.

Alley means a public thoroughfare less than 30 feet in width.

Antenna/communication tower means any system of wires, poles, rods, reflecting discs, access points, and similar devices used for the transmission, reception, or both of electromagnetic waves, and shall include, but not be limited to, antennas used by cellular utilities.

Automobile sales means an establishment engaged in the retail sales and services of new and used automobiles, trucks, trailers, motorcycles, mopeds, and recreation vehicles and supplies. The term "automobile sales" may include farm or industrial equipment, machinery, and supplies.

Boardinghouse means any dwelling other than a hotel where meals or lodging and meals for a compensation are provided for five or more persons, pursuant to previous arrangements, and not to any casual applicant.

Brewpub means a small brewery that operates a restaurant on the same premises as the brewery, whose malt liquor production per calendar year may be limited by state statute.

Buildable area means the part of the lot remaining after required yards have been provided.

Building means any structure, either temporary or permanent, having a roof, and used or built for the shelter or enclosure of any person, animal, or chattel or property of any kind; when any portion thereof is completely separated from every other part thereof by division walls from the ground up and without openings, each portion of the building shall be deemed as a separate building.

Building height means the vertical distance measured from the average ground level adjoining the building to the highest point of the roof surface if a flat roof, to the deck line of mansard roofs, and to the mean height level between eaves and ridge of gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

Building, principal, means a building or structure in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which the building or structure is situated.

Cannabis Business means a business involved with cannabis.

Cannabis Business Buffer means a 1000-foot buffer from public and private schools and a 500-foot buffer from a day care, residential treatment facility, public park, or athletic field for cannabis retailers, cannabis microbusinesses with a retail endorsement, cannabis mezzobusinesses with a retail endorsement, medical cannabis retailers, and medical cannabis combinations businesses. Lower-potency hemp edible-retailers have a buffer of 500 feet. The Cannabis Business Buffer does apply to the south and east property line of Meadows Park.

Cannabis Business Retail Endorsement means a cannabis business that may sell cannabis products directly to the public as regulated by state statute.

Cannabis Business Retail Limit means that cannabis businesses with a retail endorsement, including cannabis retailers, cannabis mezzobusinesses, and cannabis microbusinesses, except lower-potency hemp edible retailer, shall be limited to one business per 12,500 residents within the city, excluding lower-potency hemp edible retailers.

Cannabis Cultivator means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Delivery Service means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Event Organizer means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Manufacturer means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Mezzobusiness means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Microbusiness means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Retailer means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Testing Facility means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Transporter means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Cannabis Wholesaler means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Clinic means a public or proprietary institution providing diagnostic, therapeutic, or preventative treatment of ambulatory patients by a group of doctors acting in concern and in the same building for the purposes aforesaid.

Conditional use means a use which, because of unique characteristics, cannot be classified as a permitted use in any particular district. After due consideration, in each case, of the impact of the use upon neighboring land and of the public desirability for the particular use at the particular location, a conditional use permit may be granted.

Conditional use permit means a permit issued by City Council in accordance with the procedures specified within this article as a device to enable the City Council to assign conditions to a proposed use or development after consideration of the adjacent land uses and the special characteristics which the proposed use presents.

Contractor means a person or company that undertakes a contract to provide materials or labor to perform a service or do a job.

Development means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings and other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation, drilling operations, or storage of materials or equipment.

Dwelling means any building or part thereof which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes of one or more human beings, either permanently or transiently, but not boardinghouses, hotels, motels, and garage space.

Dwelling, multiple, means a building designed with three or more units for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other but sharing hallways and main entrances and exits.

Dwelling, single-family, means a dwelling occupied by one family, and so designed and arranged as to provide cooking and kitchen accommodations and sanitary facilities for one family only.

Dwelling, two-family, means a dwelling so designed and arranged to provide cooking and kitchen accommodations and sanitary facilities for occupancy by two families.

Essential services means the erection, construction, alteration, or maintenance by public utilities or City departments or commissions of underground or overhead transmissions or distribution systems, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, towers, and other similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith (but not including buildings) reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by the public utilities or City departments or commissions for the public health, safety, or general welfare.

Excavation ormining means the removal of the natural surface of the earth, whether sod, dirt, soil, sand, gravel, stone or other matter or the use of an area for stockpiling, storage and processing of sand, gravel, black dirt, clay and other minerals resulting in a substantial alteration as defined in section 8-53.

Family means any number of persons living together in a room or rooms comprising a single housekeeping unit and related by blood, marriage, adoption, or any unrelated person who resides therein as though a member of the family including the domestic employees thereof. Any group of persons not so related but inhabiting a single house shall, for the purpose of this article, be considered to constitute one family for each five persons, exclusive of domestic employees, contained in each group.

Floodplain means the areas adjoining a watercourse which has been or hereafter may be covered by a regional flood.

Garage, community, means any space or structure or series of structures for the storage of motor vehicles for the use of two or more occupants of property in the vicinity and having no public shop or service therein.

Garage, private, means an accessory building designed or used for the storage of not more than three licensed automobiles, trucks, or buses, owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory.

Group home means a state licensed group home or foster home serving six or fewer mentally handicapped or physically handicapped persons.

Home occupation means any gainful occupation or profession, engaged in by the occupant of a dwelling unit, within the dwelling unit or within any lawfully existing accessory structure, which occupation is clearly incidental to the residential use of the premises. The activity shall not produce light glare, noise, odor, or vibration perceptible beyond the boundaries of the premises and shall not involve the use of accessory structures. The following are examples of prohibited uses:

(1)

Repair, service, or manufacturing which requires equipment other than that customarily found in a home;

(2)

Over-the-counter sale of merchandise produced off the premises; or

(3)

The employment of persons on the premises, other than those customarily residing on the premises.

The above examples are illustrative in nature and shall not be construed as comprehensive.

Hotel means any building occupied as a biding place of persons who are lodged with or without meals, in which, as a rule, the rooms are occupied singly for hire in which provision is not made for cooking by individuals and in which there are more than 25 sleeping rooms.

Interim use means a temporary use of property until a particular date, until the occurrence of a particular event, or until zoning regulations no longer allow said use, per section 10-503.

Lodginghouse means a building or premises where lodging is provided for compensation for five or more persons but not exceeding 25 persons.

Lot means one unit of a recorded plat or subdivision occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings, and including, as a minimum, the open spaces as are required under this article, and having frontage on a public street. Street or highway easements are not a part of a lot.

Lot, base, means a contiguous parcel of land in identical ownership throughout, bounded by other lots or streets, and used or set aside and available for use as the site of one or more buildings or other definite purpose (synonymous with the term "lot").

Lot, corner, means a lot situated at the junction of two or more intersecting streets, or a lot at the point of deflection in alignment of a single street, the interior angle of which is 135 degrees or less.

Lot, interior, means a lot other than a corner lot.

Lot, through, means an interior lot having frontage on two streets.

Lot, unit, means a specialized lot created within a base lot simply for the purpose of defining ownership for certain multifamily dwelling types.

Differences Between Base and Unit Lots
in Multifamily Development

Lot area means the land area within the lot lines, less street easements, if any.

Lot depth means the mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line measured from a 90-degree angle from the street rights-of-way within the lot boundaries.

Lot line means the lines bounding a lot as defined herein. When a lot abuts on a street, street easement, avenue, part of other public property except an alley, the boundary line shall be known as a street line, and when a lot abuts on an alley, the boundary lines shall be known as an alley line.

Lot width means the shortest horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at right angles to the lot depth.

Lower-Potency Hemp Edible Manufacturer means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Lower-Potency Hemp Edible Retailer means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Lower-Potency Hemp Edible Retailer Limit means that a lower-potency hemp edible retailer shall be limited to three businesses per 12,500 residents within the city.

Machine shops means a workshop in which machine tools are operated.

Manufacturing, heavy, means the manufacturing of products from raw or unprocessed materials. This category shall also include any establishment or facility using large unscreened outdoor structures such as conveyor belt systems, cooling towers, cranes, storage silos, or similar equipment that cannot be integrated into the building design, or engaging in large-scale outdoor storage. Any industrial use that generates noise, odor, vibration, illumination, or particulate that may be offensive or obnoxious to adjacent land uses or requires a significant amount of on-site hazardous chemical storage shall be classified under this land use. This use shall include any packaging of the product being manufactured on-site. Examples of heavy manufacturing include, but are not limited to, the production of the following: large-scale food and beverage operations; lumber milling and planning facilities; aggregate, concrete and asphalt plants; foundries, forge shops, open air welding, and other intensive metal fabrication facilities; chemical blending, mixing, or production; and plastic processing and production.

Manufacturing, light, means the mechanical transformation of predominantly previously prepared materials into new products, including assembly of component parts and the creation of products for sale to the wholesale or retail markets or directly to consumers. Examples of light manufacturing include, but are not limited to, production or repair of small machines or electronic parts and equipment; woodworking and cabinet building; testing facilities and laboratories; apparel production; sign making; assembly of pre-fabricated parts; manufacture of electric, electronic, or optical instruments or devices; manufacture and assembly of surgical instruments; processing and packing of food products or cosmetics; and manufacturing of components, jewelry, clothing, trimming decorations and any similar item. Light manufacturing does not include an individual's production of hand-crafted or custom made items.

Medical Cannabis Combination Business means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Medical Cannabis Cultivator means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Medical Cannabis Processor means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Medical Cannabis Retailer means a cannabis business as defined in state statute.

Micro-distillery means a facility that produces ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, spirits of wine, whiskey, rum, brandy, gin, or other distiller spirits, including all dilutions and mixtures thereof, for non-industrial use not to exceed 40,000 proof-gallons per calendar year.

Mini (self) storage means an enclosed storage facility containing independent, fully enclosed bays that are leased to individuals exclusively for the storage of household goods and personal belongings.

Mobile home means a structure transportable in one or more sections, which when erected on site measures eight body feet or more in width and is designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein, and bears the appropriate Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development inspection label certifying that the mobile home meets Federal Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards. The term "mobile home" shall include manufactured homes built in conformity with Minn. Stats. §§ 327.31—327.34, as they may be amended from time to time.

Office means professional and business office, non-retail activity; used for conducting the affairs of a business profession, service, industry or government.

Open sales lot means any open land used or occupied for the purpose of display of merchandise for sale and/or rent.

Outdoor storage/storage yards means an outside area where equipment, vehicles, trailers or material relating to the principal use of the parcel of land is stored. This includes semi-trucks and trailers. The stored items are not for sale or display but are used in the everyday operation of the principal use.

Permitted use means a use which may be lawfully established in a particular district, provided it conforms with all requirements and performance standards (if any) of the district.

Principal use means the primary or predominant use of any lot and/or building.

Public utility means persons, corporations or governments supplying gas, electric, transportation, water, sewer or land line telephone service to the general public.

Recreational facility, indoor, means an indoor facility providing accommodations for a variety of individual, organized, or franchised sports, including, but not limited to, basketball, ice hockey, wrestling, soccer, tennis, volleyball, racquetball, laser tag, paintball, miniature golf or handball. Such facility may also provide other regular organized or franchised events, health and fitness club facilities, swimming pool, climbing wall, snack bar, restaurant, retail sales of related sports, health or fitness items and other support facility. The said establishment may or may not include membership.

Regional flood means a flood which is representative of large floods known to have occurred generally in the state and reasonably characteristic of what can be expected to occur on an average frequency in the magnitude of the 100-year recurrence interval. The term "regional flood" is synonymous with the term "base flood" used in the flood insurance study.

Required open space means portions of a lot or premises as are specifically required to be left open in the use district in which the lot is located. The spaces include courts and front, side, and rear yards.

Research laboratory means a facility for scientific and/or academic research, investigation, testing or experimentation, but not facilities for the manufacture or sale of products, except as incidental to the main purpose of the laboratory.

Setback means the minimum horizontal distance between a building and street or lot line.

Small brewery means a brewery that produces no more than 20,000 barrels of malt liquor in a calendar year.

Small wireless facility means:

(1)

A wireless facility that meets both of the following qualifications:

a.

Each antenna is located inside an enclosure of no more than six cubic feet in volume or, in the case of an antenna that has exposed elements, the antenna and all its exposed elements could fit within an enclosure of no more than six cubic feet; and

b.

All other wireless equipment associated with the small wireless facility, excluding electric meters, concealment elements, telecommunications demarcation boxes, battery backup power systems, grounding equipment, power transfer switches, cutoff switches, cable, conduit, vertical cable runs for the connection of power and other services, and any equipment concealed from public view within or behind an existing structure or concealment, is in aggregate no more than 28 cubic feet in volume; or

(2)

A micro wireless facility.

Taproom means an area for the on-sale consumption of malt liquor produced by the brewer for consumption on the premises of or adjacent to one brewery location owned by the brewer. A taproom may also include sales for off-premises consumption of malt liquor produced at the brewery location or adjacent to the taproom and owned by the brewer for off-premises consumption, packaged subject to Minn. Stats. § 340A.285, as it may be amended from time to time, or its successor.

Tasting room, distillery, means an area for the on-sale consumption of distilled spirits produced on the premises of, or adjacent to, one distillery and in common ownership to the producer of the distilled spirits. The tasting room area may include sales for off-premises consumption of products produced by the owner of the distillery location if permissible by state law.

Temporary structures means event tents, canopies, tarp garages, hoop buildings, and/or similar membrane structures.

Townhouse means single-family attached units in structures housing three or more dwelling units contiguous to each other, only by the share of one common wall and each dwelling unit shall have separate and individual front and rear entrances.

Trucking terminal means land or buildings used primarily as a relay station for the transfer of freight from one vehicle to another or one party to another rather than permanent or long-term storage. The terminal facility might include storage areas for trucks and buildings for truck maintenance and repair.

Use means the purpose for which land or buildings thereon are designed, arranged, or intended to be occupied or used, or for which they are occupied or maintained.

Variance means the waiving of specific literal provisions of this article in instances where their strict enforcement would cause undue hardship because of circumstances unique to the individual property under consideration. Variances are to be granted only when it is demonstrated that a waiving of the provision will be in keeping with the spirit and intent of this article. Furthermore, hardship must be demonstrated on a non-economic basis.

Warehouse and distribution facilities means a building or portion of a building used primarily for the long- or short-term storage of goods and materials awaiting transportation or distribution, and not generally accessible to the general public. Incidental storage, repair, and maintenance of trucks associated with the distribution of goods from the warehouse are allowed.

Warehousing means the storage of materials or equipment within an enclosed building as a principal use.

Wholesale stores or distributors means establishments or places of business primarily engaged in selling large volume or bulk merchandise to retailers.

Wireless support structure means a new or existing structure in a right-of-way designed to support or capable of supporting small wireless facilities, as reasonably determined by the City.

Yard means an open space on the lot which is unoccupied and unobstructed from its lowest level to the sky. A yard extends along a lot line at right angles to the lot line to a depth or width specified in the yard regulations for the zoning district in which the lot is located.

Yard, front, means a yard extending across the front of the lot and between the side lot lines and lying between the front line of the lot and the nearest line of the building.

Yard, rear, means an open space, unoccupied except for accessory buildings, on the same lot with a building, between the rear lines of the lot for the full width of the lot.

Yard, side, means an unoccupied space on the same lot with a building between the building and the side line of the lot and extending from the front lot line to the rear lot line.

(Code 1980, § 15.02; Code 2015, § 153.007; Ord. No. 261, 3-12-2012; Ord. No. 264, 5-29-2012; Ord. No. 274, 8-12-2013; Ord. No. 294, § 1, 3-26-2018; Ord. No. 300, § 1, 1-28-2019; Ord. No. 331, § 1, 11-25-2024)

This article shall be administered and enforced by the City Building Inspector. The Building Inspector may institute appropriate action for any violations of this article at the direction of the City Council and through the City Attorney as deemed necessary.

(Code 1980, § 24.01; Code 2015, § 153.008)

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 and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $700.00 for each offense, or be imprisoned for not more than 90 days, and each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.

(Code 1980, § 24.02; Code 2015, § 153.009)