Critical area rulemaking heats up
Protecting bluffs and steep slopes will be an important aspect of new Critical Area rules. The rocky bluffs in the photo are known as "Robinson's Rocks." These unusual short cliffs rise right out of the water on and around Grey Cloud Island.
Last week, the Minnesota DNR shared their first take on draft standards for the Mississippi River Critical Area, a protected corridor from Dayton to Hastings. The stakeholder advisory group (which includes FMR) that has been participating in the rulemaking process since March had a week to review the draft and then gathered on August 12th for a six-hour workshop to discuss the proposed standards and provide input. Revisions to the draft districts were also provided, but discussed only tangentially at the meeting.
The release of the draft districts and standards has sparked increased interest in the rulemaking process. A group of riverfront residents from the northern communities in the corridor who arent on the stakeholder group has emerged with a litany of concerns about property rights. Many of them just want to be heard and have an opportunity to weigh in on the process.
After they showed up at the stakeholder meeting with their picket signs and their lawyer, the DNR staff informed the group that the stakeholder meeting needed to go on as scheduled, but they could observe the meeting and then DNR staff would answer questions from them after the meeting. DNR also plans in the very near future to make the draft districts and standards available to the general public, and they are likely to hold some kind of public hearing before the Commissioner finalizes the draft rule in December.
The draft standards include guidelines and rules for corridor development such as structure height, lot size and density, structure setbacks from the river and bluff, steep slope protections, vegetation management, open space dedication and water quality. From FMR's perspective the proposed draft standards offer some improvements over the current guidelines, but in many areas such as bluff protection, water quality and open space protection they fail to provide even modest protection. FMR has provided extensive written comments at each stage of the process, and has now submitted detailed comments on this latest proposed draft. If you are interested in reviewing any of FMR's comments, please contact Bob Spaulding via our contact form.
And as always, stay tuned for the next chapter!
For more information:
Irene Jones, River Corridor Program Director