The purpose of the R-1A district is to continue and promote a diversity of housing by providing a single-family alternative to the R-1 zoning district. Development within this district may occur at densities not exceeding three dwelling units per acre.

R-1A zoning may be considered when both a) and b) below are met:

a)   The proposed R-1A development will be appropriately integrated into existing and proposed surrounding development. This does not mean the R-1A development must reflect the specific standards of the surrounding area such as lot size, density, setbacks, or design. While integration may be achieved through such standards, it may also be achieved through continuation of existing land use types, architectural transitions, landscape buffering, or other means.

b)   Either of the following is met:

   1)   At least 60 percent of existing lots within 400 feet of the proposed R-1A development, and along 1000 feet on both sides of street on which the proposed development is located, have lot areas less than the R-1 standards as outlined in city code section 400; or

   2)   All lots within the R-1A development will be served by a new street.

Within the R-1A district no structure or land may be used except for any one or more of the following permitted uses and the accessory and conditional uses in subdivisions 3 and 4:

a)   single family detached dwelling units, but not more than one dwelling unit per lot; a manufactured home built in conformance with Minn. Stat. §§ 327.31 et seq. is considered a single-family detached dwelling unit;

b)   public park and recreational areas owned and operated by a governmental unit, including recreational facilities and structures consistent with the area, except as provided for in subdivision 4;

c)   licensed residential care facilities or community based residential care facilities serving six or fewer persons, a licensed day care facility serving 12 or fewer persons, and a group family day care facility licensed under Minnesota Rules, parts 9502.0315 to 9502.0445 to serve 14 or fewer children, except a residential facility whose primary purpose is to treat juveniles who have violated criminal statutes relating to sex offenses or have been adjudicated delinquent on the basis of conduct in violation of criminal statutes relating to sex offenses;

d)   cabinets no larger than 150 cubic feet that hold utility equipment and for which a landscape plan has been approved by the city planner; overhead utility poles and lines for a distribution line up to a maximum height of 60 feet as measured from the ground upon which it is located, except that poles and lines for a distribution line may be taller than 60 feet, but not taller than 80 feet, when needed to cross a major roadway such as a freeway.

e)   private recreational uses and structures for the exclusive use of surrounding property owner(s) as a principal use. Such uses and structures include tennis courts, pools, patios, and docks, which cannot be used for commercial purposes or non-recreational uses. The only permitted buildings are gazebos and storage sheds. Storage sheds may be no larger than 120 square feet. All structures mentioned in this subsection must meet other minimum-required setbacks and maximum area requirements for accessory structures.

Within the R-1A district only the following uses are permitted as accessory uses, provided they are subordinate to, associated with and located on the same lot as a permitted use:

a)   private swimming pools, tennis courts, and other sport courts;

b)   detached garages, storage sheds, or other accessory structures not exceeding 12 feet in height, an aggregate of 600 square feet of gross floor area, or occupying more than 30 percent of the area of the side or rear yard in which they are located and except as provided for in subdivision 4;

c)   solar energy system;

d)   home occupations that comply with the provisions of section 300.15, subd. 14;

e)   minor mass transit facilities including benches, except as provided for in subdivision 4;

f)   licensed day care facilities serving 12 or fewer persons, and licensed group family day care facilities serving 14 or fewer children, provided that there is not more than one outside employee in any such facility;

g)   garage sales, estate sales, yard sales, rummage sales, and other sales of personal property that have similar traffic and parking patterns, if:

   1)   the sales occur during no more than two periods of a maximum of three consecutive days each in any 12-month period,

   2)   the items offered for sale consist only of items owned by a person who occupies the property as his/her residence or by friends of the resident

   3)   none of the items offered for sale have been purchased for resale or received on consignment for purposes of resale, and

h)   other uses that are not regulated by this code and that are customarily associated with but subordinate to a permitted use, as reasonably determined by the city.

(Amended by Ord. No. 2022-18, effective November 14, 2022)

Within the R-1A district no structure or land shall be used for the following except by conditional use permit and in conformance with the standards specified in section 300.16 of this ordinance:

a)   accessory dwelling units;

b)   utility poles and appurtenances (such as wires) that are over 60 feet in height and freestanding upon the ground, and all transmission lines that are not subject to state review under the Minnesota power plant siting act;

c)   other uses similar to those permitted by this section, as determined by the city.

a)   Lots must meet all of the following minimum standards:

   1)   Lot area: 15,000 square feet

   2)   Lot width at front yard setback: 75 feet

   3)   Lot width at right-of-way: 55 feet, except that lots abutting a cul-de-sac bulb may have a lot width at right-of-way of 45 feet

   4)   Lot depth: 125 feet

   5)   Buildable area: 2,400 square feet

   6)   Buildable area dimensions: minimum of four sides with 30 feet per side

b)   Principal structures must conform with the following:

   1)   building height: maximum of 35 feet, except if the building includes a walkout or lookout elevation, in which case the maximum height is 25 feet.

   2)   front yard setback:

      a.   From streets located outside of the R-1A plat, a minimum of 35 feet from the right-of-way of streets and railroad lines. In the case of a corner lot, one front yard setback may be reduced by 10 feet. On double frontage lots, the setback may be reduced by 10 feet towards the direction perceived by the city planner to be the rear yard.

      b.   From streets located within the R-1A plat, and only serve the lots within the R-1A plat, a minimum of 25 feet.

   3)   side yard setback: 10 feet

   4)   rear yard setback: minimum of 30 feet or 20 percent of the depth of the lot, whichever is less

   5)   maximum impervious surface: 50 percent

   6)   maximum floor area ratio:

      a.   Lot area less than 17,500 square feet: 0.24

      b.   Lot area 17,500 square feet and greater: 0.22

c)   Accessory structures must conform to the setbacks established for principal structures, except for the following:

   1)   all accessory structures located more than 10 feet from a principal structure must be located a minimum of 10 feet from a rear or side lot line;

   2)   all accessory structures except detached garages located between the principal structure and the front lot line, must maintain a minimum setback of 50 feet;

   3)   sheds or storage buildings less than 120 square feet in size must be located behind the rear building line of the house; and

   4)   swimming pools and sport courts must be located behind the front building line of the house, and set back a minimum of 15 feet from side and rear property lines as measured to the water line of pool or edge of the sport court. On corner lots, swimming pools and sport courts are subject to front yard setbacks established for principal structures.

d)   All dwellings, including manufactured homes, must have a depth of at least 20 feet for at least 50 percent of their width and a width of at least 20 feet for at least 50 percent of their depth.

e)   All dwellings must have a permanent foundation in conformance with the Minnesota state building code.

f)   Off-street parking must be provided for at least two vehicles for all single-family dwellings. A suitable location for a garage measuring at least 24-feet by 24-feet and that does not require a variance must be provided and indicated as such on a survey or site plan to be submitted when applying for a building permit to construct a new dwelling or alter an existing garage.

g)   The city may require that construction within the buildable area of an R-1A lot be located where the city determines it would reasonably:

   1)   minimize the amount of adverse impacts to the physical environment on the lot, including such things as significant trees, grading, erosion, and surface water drainage, and

h)   No principal structure, or any portion of it, may be located outside the buildable area, except when intrusions into setbacks are allowed by this code.

i)   All structures must comply with the wetland protection, floodplain protection, shoreland protection, steep slope protection and tree protection requirements contained in sections 300.23, 300.24, 300.25, 300.28 and 314.01 of this ordinance.

(Amended by Ord. No. 2023-02, effective February 27, 2023)

a)   Applications for rezoning and preliminary or final plat will not be considered simultaneously. A rezoning to R-1A must be approved by the city council prior to receipt of a plat application.

b)   Rezoning

    1)   As with any rezoning, the decision to rezone a property to R-1A is a policy decision that the city council may make in its legislative capacity. In evaluating a proposal to rezone a property to R-1A, the council will consider its compliance with the standards outlined in section 2 of this ordinance.

    2)   The process to rezone a property to R-1A is generally subject to the procedures outlined in section 300.09 of this ordinance for a zoning map amendment, except that:

      a.   An application for rezoning to R-1A must include a conceptual subdivision plan. The plan must note lot area and dimensions and buildable area and dimensions. If a rezoning to R-1A is approved, future subdivision must be substantially consistent with the conceptual plan.

      b.   Prior to introduction of the rezoning ordinance, city staff will establish a public hearing notification area. This area will include all properties located wholly or partially within 400 feet of the property proposed to be rezoned R1-A and further extended to existing natural or manmade boundaries such as wetlands, creeks, lakes, roadways, intersections, railroads or different land use classifications.

       c.   At the time of ordinance introduction, the council will determine whether the notification area is appropriate. The council may require that the area be enlarged or retracted prior to the public hearing before the planning commission. In no case will the notification area be less than 400 feet of the property proposed be rezoned R-1A.

      d.   At least 10 days prior to the public hearing before the planning commission, notice regarding the rezoning will be published in the official newspaper and sent by mail to the notification area as approved by the council.

c)   Platting Process

   1)   The process to plat an R-1A property is subject to the procedures outlined in section 400.

a)   If an application for preliminary plat approval is not made by December 31 of the year following approval of a rezoning to R-1A or the end of any extension granted by the city, the city council may rezone the property back to its original zoning classification.

(Section added by Ord. No. 2014-22, adopted September 15, 2014; amended by Ord. No. 2016-06, effective February 29, 2016; amended by Ord. 2021-20, effective October 4, 2021)