Ordinance #700-005 An ordinance for the purpose of promoting health, safety, order, convenience and general welfare of the people of the City of Hewitt by regulating within the corporate limits the use and subdivision of lands, the use and development of designated flood plain areas, the use and development of shorelands, the use and locations of buildings, the arrangement of buildings on lots, and regulating the subdivision and zoning of land. In accord with Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 462 (Section 462.357), the City Council of the City of Hewitt, Minnesota, ordains as follows: SECTION 1: General Provisions A. Administration For the purpose of administering this Ordinance the City Council of the City of Hewitt shall act in lieu of planning commission and board of adjustments and appeals until such time as the said Council creates by separate ordinance a planning commission and/or board of adjustments and appeals. Words or phrases used in this Ordinance have common usage and so as to give this Ordinance its most reasonable application. B. Use Districts For the purpose of this Ordinance the City of Hewitt, Minnesota is divided into the following use districts: 1. Residential District 2. Commercial District 3. Agricultural or Rural District 4. Flood Plain Shoreland District The boundaries of these districts are delineated on the map mark and designated as City of Hewitt, Minnesota, Zoning Map which is on file at the Office of the City Clerk and herewith made a part of this Ordinance. C. Existing Uses The lawful use of a building or premises existing at the time of this Ordinance takes effect may be continued, although such use does not conform to the provisions hereof, excepting as provided in Section VI, Subsection H. D. Signs No billboards or signs shall be erected in the residential district except as follows:
1. Signs displaying the name only of the property or premises upon which displayed or of the owner or lessee thereof. 2. Signs not exceeding eight square feet in area pertaining only to the sale, rental or lease of the premises upon which displayed. E. Hazardous Materials No filing station, public garage, gasoline distributing station or buildings or structures containing hazardous materials shall be erected within 50 feet of school, church, hospital, or other public meeting place having a seating capacity of more than fifty persons. F. Storage of Materials Storage of materials other than agricultural within the corporate limits of the City of Hewitt shall be permitted only upon adequate screening by fences, walls, land forms, and/or natural or planted landscape, planting materials on the premises to prevent unsightliness and to conceal the stored material from sight for a distance of one-fourth (1/4) mile. This provision applies to storage of any two or more used motor vehicles without current license plates, storage of used machinery, used equipment, salvage materials, lumber, felled trees and brush and other collected debris. G. Lot or Parcel Division In the residential districts no parcel may be sold, or otherwise transferred to another owner from a lot or parcel upon which a dwelling, or other structure has been erected, which will reduce the remaining parcel to the extent of being in violation of any of the requirements for building sites as here set forth. H. Visibility at Intersections For the purpose of insuring reasonable visibility in the residential district, it is provided that no structure may be erected or any vegetation maintained other than trees trimmed to a height of either feed above curb level, and shrubs and hedges trimmed to a height of three feet or less above curb level, for a distance of thirty feet from the intersection of the property lines of the two streets. I. Nonconforming Use Any use, construction, or structural alteration, which is not hereinbefore designated as a conforming use, is hereby declared to be a non-conforming use. A permit may, therefore, be granted only in accordance with the procedure provided under Section II and Section IV, Subsection H of this Ordinance.
J. Division of Land Only one division of land in which a tract or parcel is described by metes and bounds shall be permitted. Any further division of the remaining land must be by plat duly approved and recorded in accordance with laws and regulations in such case made and provided. SECTION II: ENFORCEMENT & EXECUTION OF THE ORDINANCE A. Enforcement It shall be the duty of the police and City Council to see that this Ordinance is enforced through the proper legal channels. B. Building-Use Permit Required Before proceeding to any construction, building, moving, erection or structural altercation in the City of Hewitt, a building-use permit shall be obtained. The applicant shall obtain a building-use permit application from the City Clerk of said City. The City Clerk is hereby authorized to issue permits under the direction of the City Council for construction, building, erection or moving of buildings, or structural altercation of buildings on all lands within the jurisdiction of the City of Hewitt. Applications for rezoning, amendments, special use permits, conditional use permits and variances shall be available from the office of the City Clerk. C. Special Permits for Nonconforming Uses In addition to paragraph B next above, petitions for special permits to allow construction or operation of any non-conforming use or construction or operation herein above require a special permit. No special permit shall be granted except upon approval of the majority of landowners within 300 feet of the proposed construction. Following the fulfillment of this requirement, there shall be a public hearing thereon and the same must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Council. Due notice of the time, place, and purpose of such public hearing shall be published in the official paper of the City at least ten days prior to the time of holding such public hearing, provided, however, that upon a two-thirds vote of the City Council such public hearing and notice may be waived. D. Application Requirement The City Clerk or the City Council of the city of Hewitt, Minnesota, shall require applicants for permits to submit such plats, plans, specifications, and other information as he or they deem wise and expedient for a fair and equitable
decision upon each applicant. Applications are required for ALL building projects including sheds, moveable or permanent. E. Penalty for Noncompliance Any person who shall violate or refuse to comply with any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be subject, upon conviction thereof, to a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or imprisonment of not more than ninety days of each offense. Each day that the violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. Violations of Section VI of this shall incur greater penalty as defined in Section VI, Subsection I. SECTION III: REGULATIONS FOR RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT A. Use Regulations In the residential district, unless otherwise provided for in this Ordinance, no building or promises shall be used, and no building shall hereinafter be erected or structurally altered except for one or more of the following uses: 1. One of two family private dwellings of two and one half stories or less and their accessory buildings, 2. Truck gardening or raising of field crops, 3. Parks and playgrounds, 4. Recreational or community buildings which are publicly owned and operated, 5. Churches, libraries, museums, schools, memorial buildings, including name plates and bulletin boards placed back of the prescribed set-back lines, 6. Home occupations B. Height Regulations In the residential district no building shall hereafter be erected or structurally altered to exceed thirty-five feet or two and one half stories in height. C. Area Regulations 1. Building site regulations In the residential district, every building designed for the housing of one or two families, together with its accessory buildings, shall be located on a building site inn one ownership having an area of not less than 18,000 square feet of unplatted land or less than 10,000 square feet of platted land; provided however, that the following parcels may be used as building sites for dwellings if all other regulations are complied with:
a. Any parcel under one ownership at the time of the adoption of this Ordinance when the owner thereof owns no adjoining land b. Any parcel, which includes not less than one entire lot as shown on any subdivision plat which was recorded in the Register of Deeds office prior to the adoption of this Ordinance. 2. Front Yard Requirements In newly platted land, each dwelling or principal building shall have a front yard of not less than thirty (30) feet. a. In case of lots under one ownership at the time of the adoption of this Ordinance, as referred to in this Section under paragraph C, 1., a., each dwelling or principal building shall have a front yard of not less than 20 feet. 3. Side Yard Requirements Each dwelling or principal building hereafter erected or structurally altered on newly platted or unplatted land shall have two side yards each of not less than fifteen (15) feet in width. a. On a corner lot, the side yard on the street side of such corner lot shall have a width of not less than twenty feet. In case of corner lots under one ownership at the time of the adoption of this Ordinance, as referred to in this Section under paragraph C, 1., a., each dwelling or principal building shall have a side yard on the street side of not less than 15 feet. b. In case of interior lots under one ownership at the time of the adoption of this ordinance, as referred to in this Section under Subsection C., Paragraph 1., a., dwelling or principle building hereafter erected or structurally altered shall have two side yards of not less than five feet each in width. c. In case a dwelling is so constructed or structurally altered that the front or rear thereof faces its side lot line, such dwelling shall not be less than 15 feet from any lot line. 4. Rear yard requirements Each dwelling in the residential district shall have a rear yard of a depth of not less than twenty percent of the depth of the lot. 5. Reserved for Water and Sewer Facilities D. Manufactured Home Regulations
In the residential district, manufactured homes shall comply with the use and area regulations under this same section except as follows: the lot or building site for manufactured homes shall be in one ownership of not less than 7500 square feet on contiguous existing lots and 18,000 square feet on unplatted land. No permit shall be approved for Manufactured Homes that are older than ten years. The term "Manufactured Home" as used in this Ordinance is distinct and separate from that of a recreational camping vehicle. These definitions shall have the meaning set forth in Ordinance #100-002. This Ordinance does not authorize the placement of recreational camping vehicles. SECTION IV: REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL DISTRICT In the commercial district, no area regulations shall be required except as follows: Buildings erected or used for dwelling purposes exclusively shall comply with the side yard and rear yard regulations as set down in the residential district; all buildings must be constructed with fireproof materials to prevent potential spread of fire to adjoining buildings. SECTION V: REGULATIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL OR RURAL DISTRICT In the Agricultural or Rural District, no area regulations shall be required except as follows: poultry and livestock shall be adequately housed or fenced and shall not be allowed to roam at large. (ALL REFERENCES TO FLOOD PLAIN STRICKEN. OBSOLETE.) Elmer Arndt, Mayor Attest: Harry E. Gunn, Clerk Resolution and ordinance printed in the Wadena Pioneer Journal 28 Aug 1975 Amended July 8, 2003 Amended September 9, 2003 Amended June 9, 2015 By: Juanita Mitchell, Mayor Attest: Tara Greer, Clerk/Treasurer