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PERSPECTIVE ON MINNESOTA LAND USE - 1974
John R. Borchert
With assistance from staff of
the Minnesota Land Management
Information System Study
William J. Craig
George Orning
John Shea
Scott Dixon
Pamela Streed
Bradley Larson
James Alders
Robert Borchers
| Minnesota State Planning Agency |
University of Minnesota |
October 1974
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ......................................... 6
The Avalanche of Land Use Literature ............... 6
Calls for State Land Use Plans ..................... 6
The Principal Questions ............................ 8
CHAPTER ONE
ELEMENTS OF THE PHYSICAL LAND USE SYSTEM ............. 9
The Structure: Regions, Market Status Zones,
Parcels, Neighborhoods ............................. 9
Expression of Complex Forces ....................... 17
Market Status and Accommodation of Change .......... 24
CHAPTER TWO
THE PROCESS OF CHANGE ................................ 28
Familiar Actors .................................... 28
Familiar Actions ................................... 28
Measure to Describe and Evaluate Actions ........... 29
Summary ............................................ 31
CHAPTER THREE
PROBLEMS AND REMEDIES ................................ 32
CHAPTER FOUR
DELEGATION OF POWERS AND
RESPONSIBILITY FOR COORDINATION ...................... 37
CHAPTER FIVE
INDICATIONS OF THE TASK AHEAD ........................ 40
Illustrations of Need ............................ 40
Land for Metropolitan Expansion .................. 40
Land for Electric Production ..................... 43
Land for Increased Commercial Forestry ........... 45
Land for Mining .................................. 47
Flood Plain Use .................................. 47
Summary .......................................... 48
Milestones of Progress ............................. 48
Ability to Describe the Situation ................ 49
Ability to Regulate .............................. 51
The Path Ahead ................................... 55
SUMMARY ............................................ 56
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE 1 Generalized Land Use Map of Minnesota ............. 10 2 Generalized Market Status Zones ................... 15 3 Graphic Expressions of the Urban Development and Land Value Frontiers .......................... 25 4 Schematic Illustration of the Advance of Successive Urban Frontiers during a Period of Expansion ...... 26 5 Schematic Illustration of the Conversion of a Land Parcel from Rural to Urban Use during a Period of Urban Expansion ................................... 26 6 Diagram Portraying 1) Delegation of Land Use Control Powers from the Legislature to Specialized State Agencies, General Units of Local Government, and Special Districts and 2) Delegation of Coordination Responsibilities to the State Planning Agency and Regional Commissions .............................. 38 7 Enlargement of the Twin Cities' Current Land Inventory for Urban Development in the Automobile Era ....... 40 8 Changing Relationship between the Twin Cities Metropolitan Population and Supply of Land ........ 41 9 Land Needed to Accommodate Future Metropolitan Population, at Different Densities, Compared with the Supply of Land within the Urban Land Value Frontier (Area Shown in Figure 7) .......................... 42 10 Locations of Fifteen Highest-Priority Sites Considered for the Next Major Power Plant Construction by the Northern States Power Company, 1972 ............... 45 11 Designation of Existing State Highways on Comprehensive Plans of Nine Contiguous Counties in South-Central Minnesota ........................... 50 12 Three Different Delineations of Drainage Basins (Watersheds) for the Same Given Pattern of Streams and Lakes ......................................... 51 13 Status of "Agriculture" Category in County Zoning Ordinances of Principal Agricultural Counties ..... 53 14 Status of "Open Space" - "Forest" - "Public" Categories in County Zoning Ordinances ............ 54 15 Status of "Heavy Industry" Category in County Zoning Ordinance .................................. 54
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE 1 Land Use Combinations Used to Characterize Different Minor Civil Divisions (Rural Towns and Incorporated Municipalities) in Minnesota ...................... 11 2 Distribution of Land Use Classes in Each Land Use Combination (in Acres) ........................ 16 3 Distribution of Land Use Classes in Each Land Use Combination (in Percent) ...................... 17 4 Distribution of Public Ownership by Land Use Combination ................................... 18 5 Public Ownership as a Percentage of Total Area in Each Land Use Combination ................ 19 6 Distribution of Land Area and Assessor's Market Valuation in Each Land Use Combination ............ 19 7 Summary by Zone ................................... 24 8 Amount of Land in Major Land Use Classes within Broad Market Status Zones of Minnesota (Thousands of Acres) .............................. 27 9 Market Status and Land Use Change ................. 30 10 Five Broad Land Use Problems, Compared with Typical Background Events Which Cause the Problems, and Some Remedies ................................. 33 11 Land Use Problems Defined as Erroneous Perceptions of Location and Site .................. 34 12 Apparent Distribution of Responsibility for Land Use Problems and Risk of Their Consequences among Major Parties or Groups within the General Population ... 35 13 Basic Land Use Programs which Would Contribute to Each of a Dozen Major Agency Work Programs Stemming from Recent Land Use Legislation .................. 35 14 Comparison of Selected Features in the Local Environment which Would be Affected by Alternative Locations of a Major Power Plant .................. 44 15 Available Forest Land, Compared with Area Potentially Required for Logging by Mid-1990's ... 46 16 Land Needed for Mining Compared with Total Forest in Northeastern Minnesota ................. 47 17 Use of Floodplain Lands along Approximately 760 Miles of River Frontage ...................... 48 18 Tabulations from a Survey of Forty-Six County Plans on File at Minnesota State Planning Agency, Prepared by Nine Different Consulting Firms ............... 49 19 Powers of Minnesota State Agencies to Control Land Use ......................................... 52 20 Measures of Site and Location Quality to be Used to Evaluate Suitability and Priority of 40-Acre Land Parcels for Each of Seven Major Classes of Development (or Preservation) ................................ 55
LIST OF PLATES
PLATE PAGE 1 The Wide Range of Rural Land Use Zones ......... 12 2 The Influence of Urban Expansion ............... 14 3 The Wide Range of Urban Land Uses .............. 20-21 4 The Wide Range of Heavy Industry Locations ..... 22-23