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Item No: 7J Meeting Date: May 14, 2007 Type of Business: CB Administrator Review : ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 786, an Ordinance Amending Chapter 1010, Wetland Zoning Code Introduction: Staff asked Kennedy & Graven to review the City’s Wetland Zoning Ordinance in light of recent issues relating to normal maintenance within a buffer area and work conducted by or at the request of the City within the buffer and also to strengthen the violations provisions when work is conducted contrary to the code allowances. Staff presented some of these changes to the Council at the March 5 worksession and on April 23, the Council approved the first reading of Ordinance 786. Discussion: As the Council was made aware, the Code is not clear with respect to whether property owners within a buffer (within 100 feet of a wetland) need to apply for a permit to conduct normal ongoing maintenance in their yard. The original intent of the ordinance, we assume, was not to require a permit be issued anytime a home owner wanted to remove vegetation from the maintained area of their lawn and Ordinance 786 helps clarify this. The second issue addressed by the attached ordinance is to exempt the City of Mounds View or agents working on its behalf from needing to obtain a wetland buffer or alteration permit when doing municipal work near or within a wetland. An example of such an exemption would have been the Silver Lake Road trailway (which did receive a RCWD permit) and the upcoming trailway work on the south side of County Road 10 between Silver Lake Road and County Road I. The final amendment contemplated by Ordinance 786 is to further emphasize the consequences of violations to the ordinance. Staff prepared an article explaining the changes which will appear in the July-August 2007 edition of the Mounds View Matters. Recommendation: Approve the second reading and adoption or Ordinance 786 which provides some clarity pertaining to activities exempt from needing a permit and strengthens the section which addresses violations. Staff also seeks authorization to publish an ordinance summary in lieu of the whole ordinance as provided by City Charter. Respectfully submitted, ________________________ James Ericson Community Development Director