Plan Commission Minutes

Town of Washburn

Town Hall

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Members present: Kim Bro (chair), Cyndi Belanger (secretary), Tim Schwenzfeier (vice chair), Hallie Sandberg.

Members absent: Jim Park (town board representative).

Others present: None.

1. Chairman Bro called the meeting of the commission to order at 7:10 P.M. and verified its legal notification (posted at town hall and Tetzner Dairy) on April 5, 2023 and on town website.

2. The minutes of the March 7, 2023 meeting were approved (Cyndi moves, Tim seconds).

3. The commission reviewed the state Department of Administration’s population, household, and age structure projections for 2010 to 2040 and compared them to those used in preparing the town’s comprehensive plan in 2007 (see table below). Population growth in the town is considerably less than was previously projected, but the growth in the number of households is in line with the previous projection. As a result, there has been expanded construction of new homes, but the average number of people in a household has decreased. The town’s population is projected to decrease in the future, and the number of households in the town is projected to peak in 2030 and then slowly decline. While the town’s total population is projected to decline by 11% from 2020 to 2040, the number of residents older than 64 years is projected to increase by 25%. Tim affirmed that the demand for new home construction is still strong at this time. If the population of elderly residents is expected to increase, where in the town should new homes be located? The current comprehensive plan calls for new rural residential uses to be in the eastern portion of town near existing town roads. These areas are more readily accessible to fire and ambulance services and are closer to existing transportation corridors.
4. The commission then considered the county’s request to prepare a preliminary draft of an updated map of future land use for the county comprehensive plan that currently is being updated. The town’s map officially will be updated when the town updates its comprehensive plan. The county is requesting that the town’s future land use map use categories that are consistent with those in the new county plan. The county also is asking towns to recommend minimum parcel sizes for each of the land use categories in the map.
5. The commission discussed what the difference in minimum parcel sizes for forestry and agricultural lands compared to rural residential lands. There was general agreement that 5-acre parcels are not well suited for agricultural and forest management. Kim suggested that the commission review that zoning standards required for lands qualified for state Farmland Preservation credits. The state requires a minimum area of 20 contiguous acres in order to qualify for the state tax credit. A non-farm residence can be created on an agricultural parcel, but non-farm land uses cannot exceed 5% of the parcel. Overall, a block covering 80% of the parcel must be available for agricultural use. Kim said the concept of consolidating residential development on agricultural and forest lands to smaller areas more suited for such development is called “performance zoning.” He will send the commission an examples of a Farmland Preservation Zoning Ordinance.

6. The commission selected Tuesday, May 2, 2023 7:00 P.M. for the next meeting at the town hall.

7. The meeting adjourned at 8:20 P.M. (Hallie moves, Cyndi seconds).