ACTION ALERT - PROTECT THE BLUFFS
WHEN: Monday, July 13, 4:30 PM at the City Planning Commission
WHAT: Public Hearing on draft Bluffland Protection Ordinance for the City of Winona
WHERE: City Hall; 4th and Lafayette Streets
Please attend this public hearing and speak up for a stronger Ordinance - anyone can speak.
As the ordinance is now drafted, houses will be constructed which will be seen from the valleys
within the city. This is your chance to tell city leaders you want the bluffs protected from development!
Give them your best reasons why you think we should be able to enjoy the bluffs as they are.
" A GOOD VIEW FROM THE TOP DESTROYS THE VIEW FROM THE BOTTOM" --- Jim Galewski
Problems with the draft ordinance:
1) Houses will be constructed on bluffsides up to 25% slopes - this will permit more developments like "Treetops" in Pleasant Valley where the houses are 1/3 up the side of the bluff. We recommend no development on slopes over 18%.
2) All "unplatted" land is exempted from the entire ordinance - this means any landowner can construct a house without any limits on its location on the bluffsides or blufftops. The planning department reports there are 213 unplatted parcels of land in the city. The ordinance would only apply if a development were "platted" for more than one house. This provision was inserted in the past few weeks after the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce representatives met with city officials and said restricting development for individual property owners would be "taking" the landowners right to develop his/her property.
This provision must be removed. Any zoning and restrictions the city has on what a landowner can do with property could be considered "taking" their rights - why should protecting bluffs from unsightly development be different than any other already existing restrictions the city has on what property owners can do?
3) There are no visual standards for where houses can be constructed. The ordinance requires certain "setbacks" in a "bluff impact zone" near blufftops, but even if a house were going to be visible from the valley below the ordinance does not prevent it from being constructed. On the Mississippi river facing bluffs, houses may be restricted because of their visual location, but in the smaller valleys like Gilmore, Pleasant, East and West Burns valleys there are no provisions for restricting houses based on visual location.
We recommend no structures be allowed on blufftops if they would be visible from the valleys below in "leaf-off conditions" (throughout the entire year). This can be determined with a "viewshed analysis" using GIS technology the city has.
Following this public hearing, the city planning commission will vote and make a recommendation on the ordinance to the Winona City Council which will also hold a public hearing prior to a final vote establishing the Bluffland Protection Ordinance.
For more information, or to receive a copy of the draft ordinance by email, contact: Bluff Land Environment Watch (BLEW) at 507.452.8232 or josephmmorse@gmail.com.
Please tell your friends and neighbors to attend this public hearing. Thanks.