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<br />lQ;~~~U <br /> <br />protection. The protection zone or zones would be mapped on official city zoning <br />maps, just as the Shoreland and Floodplain overlay zones are mapped. <br /> <br />The environmental protection zone ordinance then provides requirements or standards <br />for development within these zones. Such requirements may include the following: <br />. Setbacks or buffers from the edge of the sensitive area <br />. Construction management practices to limit disturbance or damage <br />. Limits to vegetation removal <br />. Prohibition or limitation of development within the zones by regulating <br />disturbance, lot sizes, densities, etc. <br />. Limit to impervious surface coverage <br /> <br />Given the number and diversity of high quality natural areas identified in the City's <br />Natural Resource Inventory, an overlay ordinance of this type offers a way to provide <br />protection to this range of resources rather than using multiple ordinances to address <br />woodlands, wetlands, and other types of natural resources. <br /> <br />The City of Portland, Oregon, has adopted a detailed environmental protection zone <br />ordinance that provides a good example of such ordinances. In the Portland <br />ordinance, development is mostly prohibited in the "environmental protection zone", <br />and environmentally-sensitive development is allowed in the "environmental <br />conservation zone." Typically, existing development, repairs and maintenance, and <br />provision of public infrastructure and utilities, public trails, and similar items are <br />allowed in the protection and conservation zones. <br /> <br />Copies of the Portland ordinance or Minnesota EQB Model Ordinance can serve as <br />examples of this approach. <br /> <br />Other Tools for Protection and Management of Natural Areas <br />Ordinances are mainly a regulatory ("stick") approach for protecting and managing <br />natural resources. Ordinances such as Elk River's Open Space Plat also provide <br />incentives ("carrots") to natural resources protection. Many communities use a <br />combination of carrots and sticks in protecting and managing natural resources. The <br />regulatory approach assures that some priority resources will be protected, but is <br />limited by laws that prohibit the "taking" of private property without adequate <br />compensation. The "carrot" approach may be more politically acceptable in some <br />