City Council Meeting Date: September 9, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Lynette R. Peterson, City Clerk
Title
Consider Resolution Declaring Adequacy of Petition and Setting a Public Hearing to Consider the Establishment of Special Service District No. 1.
Body
Action Requested:
The City Council considers approval of the attached Resolution Declaring Adequacy of Petition and Setting Public Hearing to Consider the Establishment of Special Service District No. 1.
Summary Report:
A group of downtown business property owners submitted a Petition on August 25, 2025 for a hearing to establish a Special Service District and impose a service charge for coordinated snow and trash removal under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 428A (the “Petition”). Approval of the adequacy of the Petition in the attached resolution is the next formal step in the process along with setting the public hearing for the Council to consider the establishment of the district. Notice of the hearing will be mailed to property owners within the proposed special services district between September 10 and September 17. The notice will also be published in the Northfield News on Wednesday, September 10 and Wednesday, September 24. The public hearing will be set for Tuesday, October 7.
The Council is being requested to accept the Petition and set the requested public hearing in the proposed Council Resolution. The City Clerk has reviewed the Petition and determined that the same meets the requirements in the statute for such a Petition, including that:
1. Owners of 25 percent or more of the land area of the property that would be subject to service charges in the proposed special service district have signed the Petition; and
2. Owners of 25 percent or more of the net tax capacity of the property that would be subject to a proposed service charge, based on net tax capacity, have signed the Petition.
The Finance Department calculated the land area and net tax capacity from County land records and those percentages are 56.2% and 32.1%, respectively.
Background
Northfield’s historic and successful downtown commercial district is a prime candidate for the implementation of a Special Service District (SSD). Building and business owners complain about the lack of coordinated snow removal in the winter – especially the inconsistency in snow clearance on Division Street sidewalks - and trash collection year-round, which is complicated with narrow lots and limited alleyways.
The benefits of an SSD in Northfield have been evident for some time, and this is not the first effort to formalize a district, although it is the first time a petition has been circulated. A 2020 consultant service contract between the City of Northfield and the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC) included the requirement that a report be compiled about the appropriateness of a special service district for downtown Northfield. The report (attached) was presented to the council at the October 20, 2020, regular meeting. The report includes results of a property owner survey (21 respondents), indicating strong support for consistent snow removal/salting of sidewalks during the winter, and lower but significant support for the regular trash removal (dumpsters and/or trash cans) throughout the year. Other polled services included better signage, benches, landscaping, public art, marketing support, and additional parking options, none of which were supported at the time and a petition was not circulated.
When the NDDC became the Friends of Downtown Northfield and the organization and city became accredited members of the Main Street America program, interest in the concept was reinvigorated. For background on special service districts more generally, a report from the Minnesota House Research is also attached.
The proposed SSD is designed to address coordinated snow and trash (including recycling, compost, cardboard) removal year-round. This selection of services is based on various surveys conducted in the past several years, which conclude a limited appetite for expanded services.
In meetings about the concept, building owners have been most intrigued by the benefits of a collective contract in lowering their costs. Other noted benefits include standardizing services across the district, specifically with respect to snow removal, to ensure safe passage for people of all ages and abilities throughout the downtown commercial district. Additional benefits to coordination include timing snow removal with the city’s street snow removal in order to reduce and/or significantly eliminate snow mounds piling up in parking spots, in pedestrian crossings, and in other parts of the right of way.
Additional research regarding interest in establishing an SSD was conducted during the Connecting Business and Community program. The implementation of that CBC program was in partnership with University of Minnesota Extension, the Northfield Chamber of Commerce, and the Friends of Downtown Northfield. Many downtown building owners expressed their interest in organized trash and snow removal. Additionally, many provided benchmark data on their individual fees associated with the services they now pay. In fact, one of the potential programmatic outcomes suggested in the draft report is implementation of a Special Service District.
The FODN have been the consistent champion of the petition process and have also advocated for for a specific set of policy considerations to be factored into the ordinance. These include limiting the scope of services to snow and trash (and other refuse) removal, initiating the SSD for a pilot period, at which point the district would need to be re-petitioned, and adhering to proportional assessments to services rendered. In this case, that means linear feet for sidewalk snow removal and square feet for parking lot snow removal, and per-use or as-used trash fees. Additionally, the FODN advocates for an “advisory committee” comprised of building and business owners in and residents of the district, to assist the City Council in governing the district.
These concepts and the concerns of property owners and business owners/operators in the proposed district will be considered in the draft ordinance.
Alternative Options:
City Council could decide not to approve this Resolution and/or change the hearing date; however, the Petition is in order and the timeline proposed aligns with State Statute, as a result Council must set the public hearing date for further consideration of the matter.
Financial Impacts:
N/A
Tentative Timelines:
September 9 – Resolution Declaring Adequacy of Petition and Set Public Hearing
September 10 - Publish notice of hearing in official newspaper (1st time)
September 10 to 17 – Send notices to affected property owners
September 24 – Publish notice of hearing in official newspaper (2nd time)
October 7 - Public Hearing and 1st reading of ordinance
October 21 - 2nd Reading of Ordinance and Adoption
December 5 – Ordinance in effect (45 days after 10/21).