|
Northland
NEMO
Impacts
|
| <--
Back to Main Page |
| --> Go
to News Articles |
| --> Go
to Stats |
| -->
Go to Website |
Spotlight
on...
Guidance for Communities on Natural Resource Based Planning
Northland NEMO spans two states, Minnesota and Wisconsin,
and is focused on two general areas, the Twin Cities area and
the Arrowhead region shared by Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.
Due perhaps to their multi-regional nature, the NEMO Team has
developed a variety of effective ways to serve as a resource
for local decision-makers.
One of the program’s
most successful initiatives has proven to be a step by step
guide to natural resource based planning, which, in
true Northland NEMO fashion, comes in two formats: a brochure, A
Quick Guide to Using Natural Resource Information,
and a companion CD, Guide to Using Natural Resource Information
in Local Decision Making. The Guide was developed as a result
of the 2002 National NEMO Network’s Open Space Planning
Boot Camp, and was put together by the Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources in partnership with the Northland NEMO
Program and the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation
District. It is designed to provide planning guidance for
people from a wide variety of backgrounds, interests and
expertise.
Released in 2004, the Guide is already having an impact on
Minnesota communities. For example, the Met Council, which
is the regional planning agency for the seven-county Minneapolis/St.
Paul metro area, will be using the Five Functional Categories
of Open Space highlighted in the guide as a framework for their
planning guidance to communities during the next round of required
comprehensive plan updates. Met Council also will be providing
communities with a CD of GIS inventory information (via ArcReader™).
The CD will include five data layers that correspond to the
five Functional Categories of Open Space. Each of the region’s
183 communities will also be given a copy of the Guide.
The Guide has received an Award
of Merit in Planning from the Minnesota Chapter of
the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Back to Top |
Impacts
- Osceola, Wisconsin:
The Northland NEMO Program worked with the City of Osceola to complete
a stormwater study focused on protecting a designated
trout stream in the area. As a result of the NEMO study, the city installed
a rain garden demonstration project in a new development that had been
designed with traditional “curb and gutter” drainage.
- Duluth,
Minnesota:
Northland NEMO used the Impervious Surface Analysis Tool (ISAT) to
develop an impervious surface assessment for
the City of Duluth. The city has used that analysis to identify
critical habitat and open space areas and prioritize
tax forfeiture lands for protection.
- Lake
Superior Watershed, Wisconsin & Minnesota:
Northland NEMO leads boat trips on Lake Superior for land use officials
as
part of their A View from the Lake program. The trips provide
a unique opportunity to discuss how land use decisions impact natural
resources
and, more specifically, Western Lake Superior. Participants not
only view the lake and shoreline, but also take part in build-out scenarios
of a model community and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of
different
development patterns. More than 500 local officials and interested
citizens participated in each of the project’s first two
years.
- Duluth Township, Minnesota: Northland NEMO worked with Duluth
Township to establish a sensitive areas overlay ordinance.
The ordinance includes greater setback restrictions, limits on impervious
surfaces
and runoff reduction requirements within particular sensitive
areas. Northland NEMO is also helping both Wright and Winona Counties
rewrite
their stormwater and erosion and sediment control ordinances.
- Kandiyohi County, Minnesota: Following several Northland NEMO
workshops, the County adopted a stormwater and erosion and
sediment control ordinance into their subdivision ordinances. They previously
had no provisions for stormwater and erosion and sediment
control.
The County also made significant revisions to their shoreland
ordinance, establishing resource management districts in tiers around
recreational
lakes and within 1000 feet of natural environment lakes. Two
cities in the county are following suit, looking to make changes to
zoning
ordinances in shoreland areas.
- Little Falls, Minnesota: When a new business park was proposed
in Little Falls, MN, the Northland NEMO Program worked with
the city to ensure impacts on natural resource protection were mitigated.
As a result, the project went from curb and gutter, pipes and
ponds
to vegetated swales, rain gardens and bioretention. Thanks
to
these on-the-ground changes, the site was able to capture a 100 year
storm
and saved the City over $200,000.
- Kandiyohi County, Minnesota: Following several Northland NEMO
workshops, the county worked with the Minnesota Department
of Transportation to significantly modify the construction of a major
highway
project,
establishing more stormwater treatment ponds as well as substantial
increases in spending on erosion and sediment control.
- Kandiyohi County, Minnesota: In response to citizen interest and
information provided by Northland NEMO, the county and the
Cities of Spicer and New London have provided funding to the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources and citizen groups to conduct water
quality
monitoring on a number of area lakes and streams.
- Twin Cities, Minnesota:
Northland NEMO is partnering with the Minnesota Lakes Association and
Twin Cities
Public Television
to produce a 1/2 hour TV show version of their Linking
Land Use to Lake Quality video. The production will be titled Development Decisions:
the Future of Minnesota’s Lakes is Crystal Clear.
The production will be distributed on CD to local governments
and lake associations
across the state.
- Minnesota:
The Northland NEMO Program is endorsed by the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency and highlighted
in the agency’s
Framework for Action to Address the Environmental Impacts
of Growth and Development
for basin management and stormwater control issues and
in the Lake Superior Basin Plan.
Back
to Top
|
|
