Clay County Commission

Dan Haglund

Matt Jacobson has been working on a plan for two years. This plan is not only an extension of one the county began 60 years ago, but it sets a blueprint for the next 20 years.
The Clay County planning director laid out the plans for the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday morning in Moorhead during a public hearing on the Land Development Ordinance: Zoning and Subdivision Regulations.
Jacobson first ran through the purpose and intent of the ordinance in written form:
“Promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare; provide for adequate light, air and water; provide for safety from fire, flood and other dangers; prevent undue concentration of population; preserve property values; preserve prime agricultural land; facilitate the provision of adequate public facilities; and preserve and enhance the quality of surface and ground water.”
Jacobson added that there are four statutory authorizations from the state which cover planning and zoning (Statute 394), floodplains (Statute 103F), waters (Statute 103G) and shoreland (Rules 6120).
This year’s update has been two years in the making.
Begun in April 2023, the purpose is to implement new goals and objectives of a comprehensive transportation plan, and to accommodate new development trends, according to Jacobson.
Planning Commission public hearings have been held monthly from July 2023 through April 2025, and an online public input survey generated more than 100 responses with concerns and ideas.
The 2025 update was recommended by the Planning Commission in April for adoption.
Jacobson then went through some of the notable updates and changes in the update, which plans forward with goals to the year 2045.
First, there are permit exemptions for smaller accessory structures (144 square feet on foundation and 400 square feet not on foundation).
Another change comes in zoning, with a clarification in residential density for Agricultural General District as eight per quarter (160 acres), or two per quarter-quarter (40 acres). This differentiates between the Standard Subdivision classification and Cluster Subdivisions.
The changes also replace Conditional Use Major Subdivisions with Agricultural and Natural Resource Subdivisions. There will be no 5 percent lot coverage limit for accessory structures in the Agricultural Service Center District.
“A lot of our lots in Downer or Rollag are smaller, and that’s kind of a difficult thing to accommodate,” Jacobson said. “Especially if you can meet at the set-back requirements but not this 5 percent lot coverage limit.”
Commissioner Paul Krabbenhoft, Dist. 1, inquired if the state floodplain maps varied much from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maps for those homeowners who may want flood insurance.
Jacobson said the state’s regulatory flood protection elevation requires an additional foot of freeboard above land elevation.
He added that what is unique about the Red River Valley is that in most areas of the country, a homeowner in a flood plain can’t have a basement. Here there is a residential basement exception, Jacobson said.
There will also be a differentiation between Highway Commercial and Limited Highway Commercial Zoning Districts sitting along public right-of-ways on a adjacent to a county or state roadway system.
The last two major updates to Clay County’s land development regulations were in 2012 (floodplain regulations after four consecutive years of Red River flooding), and in 2005 (establishing new zoning districts). The original county zoning ordinance was enacted in 1965.
In Minnesota, shoreland refers to the area within 1,000 feet of a lake, pond, or flowage and 300 feet of a river or stream, or the landward extension of a designated floodplain, whichever is greater. The state’s shoreland management program, administered by local governments, regulates development and use within these areas to protect natural resources and water quality.
And with more than 183,000 miles of lakes and rivers shoreline, the Minnesota has more than Florida, California and Hawaii combined. While Clay County does not account for a huge portion of the state’s shoreline, there are still several rivers and 110 lakes of greater than 25 acres.