City Council Meeting Date: May 20, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jake Reilly, Community Development Director
Mikayla Schmidt, City Planner
Title
Consideration of the Comprehensive Plan 2045 Adoption.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council is asked to review, discuss and adopt the Comprehensive Plan 2045.
Note: Approval requires 5 Affirmative votes from the City Council.
Summary Report:
At the May 6, 2025, Council meeting, the following actions took place related to this agenda item:
Res. 2025-050 Consideration of the Comprehensive Plan 2045 Adoption.
Community Development Director Jake Reilly introduced the item giving background
information on the item. Comp Plan Steering Committee Chair Betsy Buckheit and
Planning Commission Chair Bill Kuhlmann were in attendance. Reilly answered
questions from the Council.
A motion was made by Council Member Holmes, seconded by Council Member
Peterson White, to approve Resolution 2020-050 Adopting the 2025
Comprehensive Plan.
A motion was made by Council Member Sokup, seconded by Mayor Zweifel, to
amend the motion to Adopt the 2045 Comprehensive Plan removing the map on
Page 45 of the Plan that includes car ownership. The motion carried by the
following vote:
Yes: 6 - C. Ness, C. Holmes, C. Sokup, C. Peterson White, C. Beumer, and
Mayor Zweifel
A motion was made by Council Member Peterson White, seconded by Council
Member Sokup, to postpone Resolution 2025-050 Adopting the 2045
Comprehensive Plan until the May 20, 2025 Council Meeting. The motion carried
by the following vote:
Yes: 6 - C. Ness, C. Holmes, C. Sokup, C. Peterson White, C. Beumer, and Mayor Zweifel
The original motion, including the amendment that passed, is the current active motion on the floor. The Mayor will pick up with this point. Mr. Reilly would be prepared to give a brief summary of the items addressed since the last meeting in this memo. The Mayor then would move into questions. At the completion of questions, there would be the opportunity for discussion starting with the original councilors who motioned and seconded (Holmes/Peterson-White):
Concerns raised include that the plan’s policy direction will make it hard for people to develop, build, or start a business in Northfield; that the city has an adopted 2019 Climate Action Plan and therefore Northfield 2045 does not need to include climate change policies; and that the city’s need for more homes is not described early enough in the plan given the national housing crisis. Those concerns are addressed below in double-underlined text.
Response to concerns
The Planning Commission unanimously recommended adoption of Northfield 2045, the city’s 20-year horizon comprehensive planning and policy document at its April 17, 2025, regular meeting. The planning commission is vested by state statute with the duty of preparing and maintaining the city comprehensive plan. In the City’s code of ordinances, Sec. 2-463. - Powers and duties as planning commission, it states, “the planning commission shall have the following powers and duties related to chapter 34 of this Code: To make recommendations to the city council regarding the adoption of the official comprehensive plan for Northfield or any amendments thereto.”
Policy concern - development and climate impacts
In 2022 staff and the planning commission developed a request for qualifications (RFQ) to solicit firms to develop the document. The RFQ specifically requested the “plan include relevant milestones, related metrics, and prioritized implementation steps to achieve an equitable, sustainable, diverse, inclusive and universally accessible city.” This intentional approach to embedding sustainability in the plan document has its basis in the legal framework for planning and development initially established by the passage of the 1965 Municipal Planning Act (MN Stat. sections 462.351 to 462.364, which grants cities the authority to regulate land use.
Cities regulate land use through three basic tools:
• The comprehensive plan.
• The zoning ordinance.
• The subdivision ordinance.
Cities are not required to adopt all three. However, it is important to note that each tool serves a separate and essential purpose. These planning, zoning, and subdivision tools interact in important ways to protect and promote the sound development of a city.
First, the comprehensive plan helps a city plan for the future. The comprehensive plan is a policy document, not an implementation tool or set of regulations. Comprehensive planning is an important tool for cities to guide future development of land to ensure a safe, pleasant, and economical environment for residential, commercial, industrial, and public activities. The comprehensive plan lays out a vision for the city’s future land development and land use. The longer time frame is crucial to help a city make wise economic decisions about extending infrastructure, connecting streets, and other capital projects which must not be done piece-meal. Once a plan is adopted, it also guides local officials in making their day-to-day decisions.
Preparing a comprehensive plan before adopting a zoning or subdivision ordinance gives a city additional legal protections if a particular ordinance provision is challenged in court. Zoning and subdivision ordinances must be reasonable and have a rational basis. This gives the city a significant flexibility as long as its ordinances have a logical connection to a legitimate government goal. If disputed, the city needs to demonstrate that connection exists, and the comprehensive plan is a key document describing the goals and establishing a rational basis for city legislative decisions. Without a current comprehensive plan, zoning and subdivision decision would require significant staff time to develop a rational basis of fact for every single application and would be more likely than not to create uncertainty for existing and future residents, developers, business owners, etc.
Policy documents that are not considered part of the Comprehensive Plan cannot be consistently relied upon in the legal framework of planning and zoning work if a particular ordinance provision is challenged in court. The 2019 Climate Action Plan (CAP) is not a component of the 2008 Comprehensive Plan. Further, the CAP presents a highly detailed carbon-free approach for the city as a whole including many recommendations for private action the city cannot control. The comprehensive plan, however, focuses on what the municipality or one of its entities can address and this makes it an appropriate place to put policy elements associated with climate resiliency. Since climate-related projects, programs, processes, and other initiatives often involve capital spending as well as annual budget allocations, they must be considered as part of the city’s financial decision-making and be refined in more specific documents such as the strategic plan.
A subdivision ordinance regulates the division of land into smaller lots and the creation of blocks and neighborhoods with safe streets, appropriate environmental features, and character; how the city subdivides land has an enormous effect on how easy it is to get around (street connections and design for safety), the affordability of homes (lot sizes), infrastructure choices, and more
Finally, the zoning ordinance regulates the use and density of particular similar uses, to prevent congestion, environmental contamination, and other health hazards. Zoning has been a key issue in housing costs and can be used to exclude things a city does not want; the planning commission has emphasized revising this key ordinance to intentionally reduce barriers to developing housing and foster sustainable growth. The subdivision and zoning ordinances implement the comprehensive plan. Together they are often known as “official controls” which should be evaluated and updated after the adoption of a municipal comprehensive plan. To that end, during the 2025 budgeting process last year, the City Council approved funds to update the Land Development Code (LDC) in 2025 upon adoption of the comprehensive plan.
Chapter 34 of the City’s Code of Ordinances states the relationship between the Comprehensive Plan and the LDC:
The Comprehensive Plan for the City of Northfield or ‘comprehensive plan’ as referenced in this LDC, and adopted on November 17, 2008, is the guiding policy document for this LDC, as amended. It establishes the goals, objectives and strategies that serve as a basis for this LDC. All regulations or amendments adopted pursuant to this LDC shall be consistent with the comprehensive plan as adopted and revised or updated in accordance with the requirements of this LDC and Section 4.6 of the Charter of the City of Northfield. In cases of inconsistency with other regulations or amendments, this LDC shall prevail.
After adopting Northfield 2045 Chapter 34’s zoning and subdivision regulations will be redesigned in order to ensure that the outcomes described in the plan document are possible. Staff has consistently stated on the record at public meetings that the primary goal of redesigning Chapter 34 is ease of use, particularly for new construction.
Policy concern - infill
The City of Northfield has adopted policy direction to direct new development to vacant and/or underutilized properties within the areas already served by infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, sanitary and storm sewers, and for drinking waters since 1966 when the first plan was adopted. Every comprehensive plan has indicated areas where it will be easier and cheaper to extend infrastructure and prioritizing these areas for growth. This policy direction continues in Northfield 2045 and was not proposed to be changed during any of the dozens of conversations that staff and consultants held with stakeholder groups. That policy direction is rooted in the long-held community approach to economically sensible and sustainable development, also reflected in state statute.
From a practical standpoint, the comprehensive plan asks, “What would Northfield look like if able to offer diverse housing types at all price points and what if we could offer real choices in the market for every individual and family?” This policy direction invites city staff, developers, policy makers and policy advisors to be creative problem solvers (one of the key values identified by the community) rather than prescribing potential solutions. Seeking to develop and redevelop infill lots first (those lots already served by city sewer/water/road infrastructure) is the most cost-efficient development approach.
If each foot of new infrastructure costs approximately $1,600/foot ($450/ft for the roadway, $600/ft for the sewer line, and $550/ft for the water line). Assuming a standard minimum lot width of 50 feet (subject to change in the redesigned zoning code) it could take between 30 and 40 years to pay off the initial cost of brand-new infrastructure using tax levy funds. If the cost is paid by the developer, the construction financing capital need is that much greater.
The graphic below shows how the cost of development is related to local zoning and permitting processes. Many of the items affecting the cost to develop have already been addressed in Northfield’s land development code, and in changes at the state and national level. For example, Northfield has allowed up to three units by right on any single-family lot since the land development code was adopted in 2011. The new home at 706 Union Street is an example of three units constructed on a standard city lot within the original town plat. Another project recently reviewed by the Planning Commission and facilitated by the Housing and Redevelopment Authority that addresses some of the planning and zoning issues is the project at 307 Sumner Street East, where two duplexes (four housing units) will be constructed where one single-family home was removed. Those projects, along with the eight units of rental homes planned for construction at the southwest corner of Division and Woodley streets address some of the types of residential infill redevelopment envisioned in the existing and past comprehensive plans. Similarly, the development of the 5th Street Lofts is an infill multi-family development project.
Background
The attached draft printable document is substantially the same as was presented at the May 6 meeting and is recommended by the Planning Commission. Based on comments at the meeting, however, the map depicting US Census data associated with households without a vehicle has been removed from the interactive map site. A natural resources inventory map is being added to the interactive map site. Staff requests a motion to formally remove the vehicle access map and add the natural resources inventory map to the final plan documents and website.
The printable document is complemented by an online, accessible, searchable version. A draft test version is available: <https://www.northfieldmn.gov/1685/Comprehensive-Plan-test>. That version can be translated through a web browser’s internal translation feature and is intended to be the official version, along with the interactive maps. The interactive map site has been updated since the May 6 meeting: City of Northfield Comprehensive Plan Maps <https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/d757fe7189aa4a13b7147a5722a7d722/page/Home-Page>. A four-page graphical summary document of the plan is being developed in order to have a user-friendly and fun mechanism to introduce the community to the policies and desired outcomes of the 20-year visionary document.
Highlights of this plan include:
• A robust engagement process in both English and Spanish using pop-up meetings, online and in-person surveys, focus groups, and targeted engagement with different employee groups, non-profit groups, students and youth, the disability community, the faith community, boards and commissions, the business community, and many others.
• Uniting land use and transportation planning in an “Access” chapter designed to place a renewed focus on the safety of all roadway users and to guide initiatives toward connecting people to the places where they need to go; and
• Uniting housing and economic development policies and planning in a “Sustainable Economic Future” chapter to place a renewed focus on compact development and redevelopment opportunities and the natural connection between wages and housing attainability and affordability - for all; and
• Uniting sustainability initiatives and infrastructure planning in a “Resilient Infrastructure” chapter to clarify the city’s long-term commitment to environmental protection and ensure that the environmental and economic/fiscal impacts of infrastructure planning are at the forefront of the policy direction set in the comprehensive plan and implemented by such efforts as the Capital Improvement Plan, strategic planning, and work with other government and non-profit partners.
Alternative Options:
1. For technical amendments such as to rearrange the order of chapters or add or delete images or maps, staff recommends that council members who are interested in specific changes to the plan not contemplated in this staff report be prepared with a specific motions for those amendments. Concerns about specific language or phrases used in the document can also be addressed with a specific motion to change that specific language.
2. For a policy concerns, staff recommends that council members consider a work session item to discuss potential policy changes and consider directing staff to address any policy related concerns that require amendments.
Financial Impacts:
The pending redesign of Chapter 34 of the code of ordinances (Land Development Code/zoning code) is budgeted for a $200,000 contract. The costs are shared between the general fund and the HRA and EDA fund balances.
The long-term financial impacts of a comprehensive plan update are difficult to quantify and approximate and must balance the long-term cost to taxpayers in addition to upfront costs to both public entities like the city, county and state agencies, and private enterprises. Generally, city staff expect this update to assist with the city’s strategic plan, climate action plan and other city plans to assist with development, redevelopment, sustainability, economics, housing, transportation, etc., all of which will all have financial implications.
Tentative Timeline:
Comprehensive Plan Update Timeline
October 28, 2023: Public Kick-off meeting for the Comprehensive Plan, Greenvale School
November 7, 2023: Steering Committee appointed by City Council
December 18, 2023: Steering Committee meeting No. 1
December 20, 2023: Youth on Boards/Mayor’s Youth Council and members of Age
Friendly Northfield steering committee
January - March 2024 - Vision phase
Staff/consultant team meets with other boards/commissions for structured/facilitated conversations about desired outcomes of 2045-horizon comprehensive plan.
January 17, 2024 - Environmental Quality Commission
January 29, 2024 - Housing and Redevelopment Authority
February 5, 2024 - Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
February 7, 2024 - Heritage Preservation commission
February 14, 2024 - Library Board
February 26, 2024 - Economic Development Authority
February 28, 2024 - Human Rights Commission
March 14, 2024 - Disability community meeting, Laura Baker Services Association
February 28, 2024 - Steering Committee meeting No. 2
February through March 2024 - Pop-up engagement events: Northfield Hospital, Kwik Trip,
Post, Dawn’s Corner Bar, Viking Terrace, NCRC, 50th North, Library Oasis
January through April 2024 - Analysis Phase
April 11, 2024 - Rotary Club of Northfield
April 18, 2024 - Planning Commission discussion
May 16, 2024 - Planning Commission discussion, DRAFT Climate Analysis
May 22, 2024 - Steering Committee No. 3
May 29, 2024 - Joint work session Planning Commission and Economic Development Authority
April through July 2024 - Plan Phase
July 24, 2024 - Steering Committee No. 4
July 25, 2024 - Open House at Northfield Public Library, Crazy Days
August 29, 2024 - Steering Committee No. 5
September 19, 2024 - HRA Update on comprehensive planning
October 8, 2024 - City Council work session
October 9, 2024 - Implementation work session with City staff
October 9, 2024 - Steering Committee No. 6 R
October 29. 2024 - Draft open house event, City Hall
October 30, 2024 - Planning Commission work session
December 2024 to May 2025 - Adoption Phase
December 2, 2024 - Public Hearing draft available
December 19, 2024 - Public Hearing, Planning Commission
January 16, 2025 - Public Hearing (part 2), Planning Commission
February 20, 2025 - Planning Commission discussion
March 10, 2025 - Planning Commission Special Meeting and discussion
March 20, 2025 - Planning Commission regular meeting and discussion
April 5, 2025 - City Council Strategic Planning retreat
April 17, 2025 - Planning Commission regular meeting
May 6, 2025 - City Council regular meeting
May 14, 2025 - Age Friendly Northfield meeting
May 20, 2025 - City Council regular meeting