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General Government <br />2-A Mandates, Zoning & Local Authority <br />To serve their local citizens and communities, city officials must have sufficient local control <br />and decision -making authority. Metro Cities supports local decision -making authority and <br />opposes statutory changes that erode local authority and decision making. <br />Minnesota State Statutes 462.357, Subdivision 1, provide cities authority to regulate and set local <br />ordinances for zoning. Metro Cities supports existing state laws that provide for this <br />authority. <br />Metro Cities supports statutory changes that give local officials greater authority to <br />approve or deny variances to allow flexibility in responding to the needs of the community. <br />Metro Cities also supports the removal of statutory barriers to uniform zoning ordinance <br />amendment processes for all cities, regardless of city size classification. <br />Metro Cities opposes the imposition of legislative mandates that increase local costs without <br />a corresponding state appropriation or funding mechanism. Unfunded mandates potentially <br />increase property taxes and impede cities' ability to fund traditional service needs. <br />To allow for greater collaboration and flexibility in providing local services, Metro Cities <br />encourages the removal of barriers to coordination between cities and other units of government <br />or entities. <br />2-13 City Enterprise Activities <br />Creation of an enterprise operation allows a city to provide a desired service while maintaining <br />financial and management control. The state should refrain from infringing on this ability to <br />provide and control services for the benefit of community residents. <br />Metro Cities supports cities having authority to establish city enterprise operations in <br />response to community needs, local preferences or state mandates, or that help ensure <br />residents' quality of life. <br />2-C Firearms on City Property <br />Cities should be allowed to prohibit handguns and other weapons in city -owned buildings, <br />facilities and parks and to determine whether to allow permit -holders to bring guns into <br />municipal buildings, liquor stores, city council chambers and city sponsored youth activities. It is <br />not Metro Cities' intention for cities to have the authority to prohibit legal weapons in parking <br />lots, on city streets, city sidewalks or on locally approved hunting land. <br />Metro Cities supports local control to allow or prohibit handguns and other weapons on <br />2019 Legislative Policies <br />11 <br />