6.1. - 6.3. SR 06-21-1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. Issues The city's Comprehensive Plan and the DNR's version ofthe Wild and Scenic River Ordinance are at odds in the following two areas: 1. Commercial Two areas of the city that are zoned commercially and contain existing commercial development are non-conforming due to their location in the current Wild and Scenic River District. The Wild and Scenic River Ordinance does not allow commercial uses. This non-conforming status affects approximately forty businesses in Elk River. The first area is our historic downtown south of Main Street (sheet 3 of the attached maps). Obviously this area contained commercial uses decades before the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was ever conceived. Since the Wild and Scenic River Ordinance does not allow commercial uses, staff is proposing a boundary change in this area that will remove these businesses from the Wild and Scenic River District, thus alleviating the problem. The closest business is fifty feet from the river in the downtown area. Staff s proposed new Wild and Scenic River District boundary through Section 34, Township 33, Range 26 (the downtown area) is forty feet from the ordinary high water mark of the river. . The second commercial area is along east Highway 10 and affects businesses like Elk River Ford and Houle Oil (Sheets 1 & 2 of the attached maps). These businesses were also in existence prior to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Making even less sense is the fact that a highway with over 20,000 cars a day on it lies between these businesses and the river. Again, staff is proposing a boundary change to alleviate the problem. Instead of only including features that need protection to preserve the integrity of the river, the existing district boundary followed section lines to make the metes and bounds legal easier to describe. For example, NAPA Auto is outside of the District, but Chin Yeun Restaurant, on the other side of Highway 10, is in the District. Staff s proposed boundary follows the top of a steep wooded ridge approximately lf4 of a mile off of the river through portions of Sections 2, 3, 10, & 11, Township 32, Range 26 (East Highway 10). Even the DNR officials who visited these areas agreed, staff s proposed boundaries are logical. The values of the river are preserved and businesses are not impacted. The Wild and Scenic River District was supposed to consider preexisting uses when it was established. The attached zone change accommodates the two proposed boundary changes (Case # ZC 99-4). . As a further protection for the river, staff is proposing that commercial development within fifty feet of the proposed boundary in the East Highway 10 area requires approval of a conditional use permit. As a conditional use, issues