Waseca City Zoning Code
URBAN AND
RURAL SERVICE DISTRICTS
§ 154.032 URBAN AND RURAL SERVICE DISTRICTS.
(A) Establishment of tax districts. Pursuant to M.S. § 272.67, the City of Waseca hereby divides the area within its corporate limits into Urban and Rural Service Districts. Said districts shall be constituted as separate taxing districts for the purpose of all municipal property taxes, except those levied for the payment of bonds, and for judgments and interest thereon.
(B) Criteria.
(1) The Urban Service District shall include all properties located within the corporate limits of the city, except those properties that are included within the Rural Service District. The Urban Service District also refers to any established city zoning district apart from the Rural Service District.
(2) The Rural Service District shall include only unplatted land, which need not be contiguous to one another, and which, in the judgment of the City Council at the time of adoption, are rural in character, and are not developed for commercial, industrial, or urban residential purposes. For these reasons, they are deemed to not benefit to the same degree as other lands located within the limits of the city which are financed by general taxation.
(C) Zoning district regulations. In the Rural Service District, the following regulations shall apply, unless otherwise provided herein:
(1) The property must be rural in character.
(2) The property must not be developed, or used, for commercial, industrial, or urban residential purposes.
(3) The property must be unused and seeded or used for agricultural purposes only. For the purposes of this section, “agricultural purposes” shall include only the following uses: the production and harvesting of farm crops and the use of farm- and agricultural-related buildings and structures. “Agricultural purposes” shall not include feed lots, manure spreading, livestock, or other commercial or industrial operations.
(4) Farm- and agricultural-related buildings and structures that exist at the time the property is first included in the Rural Service District may continue to be utilized for agricultural purposes. Existing buildings may be repaired or replaced if destroyed by wind, fire, or the ravages of time, but not expanded. No permit shall be granted for any new or additional farm or agricultural buildings or structures.
(5) The following uses may be permitted by conditional use permit:
(a) Landscape nurseries.
(b) Forestlands.
(c) Public use facilities, such as municipal airports or wastewater treatment facilities.
(d) Privately owned recreational facilities which require a relatively large amount of land, such as golf courses, golf driving ranges, or other similar outdoor activities.
(D) Change in use of property in the Rural Service District. Whenever application is made for a permit for the construction of a commercial, industrial, or residential building or improvement, or whenever such improvement or building is commenced with or without a permit, the City Council shall make and enter an order by ordinance transferring such parcel, or part thereof, from the Rural Service District to an Urban Service District. Any application for the platting of a property or properties shall also permit the city to enter an order by ordinance transferring such parcels from the Rural Service District to an Urban Service District. A transferring ordinance shall include, and follow the established procedures for, the rezoning of the transferred property or properties.
(E) Tax ratio. In the judgement of the City Council, the ratio which exists between the benefits resulting from tax-supported municipal services to parcels in the Rural Service District to parcels in the Urban Service District is equal to property taxes levied by the township in which the property would otherwise be a part of, plus any municipal property taxes levied for payment of bonds, and for judgments and interest thereon. The property tax rate levied upon property in the Rural Service District shall be equal to the levy rate imposed for properties in the township in which the property would otherwise be located, except those levied for the payment of bonds, and for judgments and interest thereon.
(F) Annexed land. Any property which is annexed into the city, after the adoption hereof, and which is included in the Rural Service District as part of the annexation order, shall be reviewed by the City Council if the property is not developed for a period of five years after annexation to determine whether inclusion in the Rural Service District is still appropriate. The City Council may review the use of the property at a sooner time. Such a parcel shall be included in an Urban Service District if any area adjacent thereto is determined by the City Council to be substantially developed as urban property.
(G) Required services. Unless already existing when initially included in the Rural Service District, the city shall not provide any municipal water, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, or other utility service to any property located in the Rural Service District. No other city services shall be provided to a property in the Rural Service District that would not normally be provided by the township that the parcel would otherwise be a part of. When both city water and sanitary sewer mains are installed at, or adjacent to, a property in the Rural Service District, the City Council may make and enter an order by ordinance transferring such property from the Rural Service District to an Urban Service District. The transferring ordinance shall include, and follow the established procedures for, the rezoning of the transferred property or properties.
(Ord. 1128, passed 7-1-25)