In order to protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the community, the Common Council adopted an ordinance supporting to creation of the Zoning Board of Appeals:
A. For the purposes identified in chapter 462 of the Minnesota Statutes which related to municipal planning (sections 462.351 through 462.365);
B. For the purpose of implementing the policies set forth in Rochester’s Comprehensive Plan;
C. For the purpose of encouraging innovation in land development by removing regulatory barriers to the consideration of new or unique ideas which are consistent with the purposes and policies referenced;
D. For the purpose of encouraging patterns of land use that will reduce the need for personal vehicular travel and in turn reduce vehicular energy consumption and emissions by encouraging the use of alternative modes of transportation through improved public access to transit, sidewalks, trails and bicycle facilities, improved internal site design for non-motorized modes, and by locating work, home, shopping and service land uses in relation to each other such that trip consolidation is feasible and modal substitution can occur;
E. For the purpose of minimizing the adverse environmental impacts of development;
F. For the purpose of improving the design, quality and character of new and mixed use development to support an active living environment; and,
G. To create a system of land use regulation that is designed to find equitable solutions to the land use conflicts that routinely arise as development occurs, so as to provide for the orderly development of land within Rochester and to conserve the value of land and buildings.
