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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Fischer and Members of the Little Canada City Council FROM: Ben Harrington, AICP, Community Development Director DATE: February 25, 2026 RE: PC 1449 – Chapter 910: Shoreland Overlay District Code – Ordinance #930 Actions To Be Considered Motion to approve, table, or deny the following: •Ordinance 930, an ordinance amending Chapter 910 of the City of Little Canada Zoning Code to permit water-oriented accessory structures in the shoreland overlay district and make other minor amendments required by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and approve a summary publication. Background This ordinance represents the final component of the City’s broader accessory structures and buildings code update, addressing regulations that apply specifically within the Shoreland Overlay District. The primary policy objective of this amendment is to allow water-oriented accessory structures (WOAS) on residential shoreland lots under clearly defined and enforceable standards. At present, the City’s shoreland code effectively prohibits such structures, even where they are modest in size and consistent with long-standing shoreline development patterns in the area. Neighboring communities, including Maplewood, permit WOAS on shared waterbodies such as Gervais Lake. In practice, several Little Canada properties already contain legacy shoreline structures that pre-date shoreland standards, while similarly situated properties are prohibited from constructing any comparable facility. Staff have also observed instances where residents have installed small shoreline structures without permits. These cases are rarely the subject of enforcement complaints and have not been a significant code-enforcement priority, but they underscore the disconnect between the ordinance and actual use patterns. Any amendment to the City’s Shoreland Overlay District must be reviewed and approved by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. As part of this process, the City initiated coordination with DNR staff in fall 2025 while advancing its accessory structure updates. During this review, DNR staff identified several existing deficiencies in Chapter 910 that extended beyond the proposed WOAS change. These included deviations from the DNR Model Shoreland Ordinance that had never been formally approved, internal inconsistencies, and outdated provisions. Examples included an impervious surface allowance for residential properties exceeding what is permitted under state rules, references to a “shoreland mitigation plan”, tables formatted in a dated manner, and select standards being placed in incorrect sections. Because of the state-delegated nature of shoreland regulation, the Planning Commission and City Council have limited discretion to modify these provisions independently. Substantive changes beyond those proposed would require additional review and approval by the DNR..