Day One Rural Preservation Motions

These are not campaign themes. These are the motions I intend to place before the East Bethel City Council if elected mayor.

East Bethel has already adopted a 2040 Comprehensive Plan that calls for rural preservation, open-space protection, coordinated growth, and land-use policies designed to protect the character of the community. My goal is to move from broad policy language to implementation by bringing the city’s zoning and subdivision rules into alignment with that adopted direction.

The table below shows what each motion does, why I believe it is necessary, and the actual motion I intend to make.

Motion	Plain-language reason	Actual motion to be made
1. Comprehensive Plan Compliance Audit	Identify where current zoning and subdivision rules still fail to implement the rural-preservation and open-space commitments already adopted in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.	I move to direct the City Administrator, planning staff, and City Attorney to prepare a written comparison of the adopted 2040 Comprehensive Plan and the current zoning and subdivision ordinances, identifying provisions where current official controls are inconsistent with, fail to implement, or materially weaken the rural preservation, open-space, agricultural, natural-resource, and growth-management policies of the Comprehensive Plan, and to return that report to the City Council within 60 days.
2. Rural Preservation Ordinance Amendments	Bring Rural Residential zoning into alignment with the Comprehensive Plan instead of continuing older development standards that allow more suburban-style fragmentation.	I move that the City Council initiate amendments to the zoning and subdivision ordinances necessary to bring the Rural Residential regulations into conformity with the adopted Comprehensive Plan, including an overall rural residential density standard consistent with one dwelling unit per ten gross acres where applicable, while allowing development flexibility through conservation subdivision design.
3. Conservation Subdivision Ordinance	Allow homes to be clustered while permanently protecting large areas of open space, without increasing overall density.	I move to direct planning staff and the Planning Commission to prepare a conservation subdivision ordinance that allows clustered residential development without increasing the underlying Comprehensive Plan density, while requiring permanent preservation of a substantial portion of the parent parcel as contiguous open space.
4. Natural Resource and Open Space Overlay	Protect woods, wetlands, shoreland, drainage corridors, habitat connections, and other natural features that define East Bethel’s rural character.	I move to initiate development of a Natural Resource and Open Space Overlay District to identify and establish development standards for significant wetlands, shoreland, drainage corridors, mature woodland, habitat connections, groundwater-sensitive areas, and other natural resources identified by the Comprehensive Plan or city mapping.
5. Conservation-First Subdivision Review	Require developers to identify what should be preserved before lot lines are drawn, rather than treating leftover land as open space.	I move to direct staff to prepare an amendment to the subdivision ordinance requiring qualifying subdivisions to complete a natural-resource and conservation analysis before final lot configuration is established.
6. Sequential Lot Split Protection	Prevent large rural parcels from being gradually divided into smaller lots in a way that bypasses the intent of the Comprehensive Plan.	I move to initiate amendments to the zoning and subdivision ordinances to prevent repeated or sequential lot splits from circumventing the density standards of the Comprehensive Plan, while preserving reasonable treatment of existing legal lots, homestead splits, boundary adjustments, and other limited exceptions recommended by staff and the City Attorney.
7. Agricultural Preservation Review	Make sure agricultural zoning protects farmland and prevents premature conversion of rural land into residential development.	I move to direct the Planning Commission and planning staff to review the Agricultural District and subdivision regulations for conformity with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan and recommend amendments necessary to prevent premature fragmentation of agricultural land and maintain densities consistent with applicable future land-use designations.
8. Permanent Open Space Protection	Make sure land described as preserved stays preserved permanently.	I move to direct the City Attorney and planning staff to prepare standard legal mechanisms for permanently protecting open space created through conservation development, including conservation easements, deed restrictions, homeowners-association ownership provisions, or other legally enforceable instruments that run with the land.
9. Fiscal Impact Review for Major Residential Development	Require the city to understand whether new residential development generates enough tax base to cover the long-term public costs it creates.	I move to direct staff to develop a fiscal-impact review standard for major residential subdivisions that evaluates anticipated road, public-safety, infrastructure, maintenance, and other municipal service costs against projected tax-base contribution.
10. 2050 Comprehensive Plan Policy Direction	Put rural preservation, concentrated growth, connected open space, and disciplined infrastructure planning at the center of the next Comprehensive Plan.	I move that the City Council establish preservation of rural character, prevention of premature rural fragmentation, concentration of urban growth, preservation of connected open space, and strategic use of infrastructure as explicit Council policy priorities for preparation of the 2050 Comprehensive Plan.
11. Implementation Schedule	Prevent the ordinance work from being indefinitely delayed by creating a defined timetable for action.	I move to direct the City Administrator to return to the Council with a coordinated implementation schedule for these ordinance amendments, including Planning Commission review and required public hearings, with the goal of completing the rural-preservation ordinance package within six months.
12. Define Qualifying Open Space	Make sure required open space is real, accessible land that enhances the development and preserves rural character. Land that is already unbuildable, constrained, or devoted to infrastructure should not be used to satisfy an open-space requirement.	I move to direct planning staff and the City Attorney to prepare an amendment to the zoning and subdivision ordinances establishing a clear definition of qualifying open space for conservation development. Qualifying open space shall consist of accessible natural, recreational, agricultural, woodland, meadow, habitat, or similar land intentionally preserved to enhance the development area and contribute to rural character, environmental quality, or passive recreation. Swamps, marshland, wetlands, stormwater ponds, water-retention or detention areas, drainage ditches, drainage easements, utility easements, roadway or access easements, emergency egress areas, required rights-of-way, and other land that is already unbuildable or primarily devoted to infrastructure, drainage, or service functions shall not count toward required open-space acreage. Required open space should be reasonably accessible, visually meaningful, and arranged as a coherent part of the development rather than as isolated remnants, narrow strips, or land that could not otherwise be developed. The purpose of the open-space requirement is to preserve developable land as open space, not to receive credit for land that was already unavailable for development.

A Public Commitment

I believe residents should know before Election Day what actions a candidate intends to take once in office. These motions are intended to make that commitment specific, public, and measurable.

Final motion language may be adjusted in consultation with the City Attorney to ensure compliance with Minnesota law, procedural requirements, and the East Bethel City Code. The policy direction and intended actions will remain the same.