07-20-1992 Planning Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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v ■' Jit •i^^v M Chairman Kelley and Planning Commission Members Ron Moorse, City Administrator Michael P. Gaffron, Asst. Planning & Zoning Administrator July 15, 1992 Proposed Zoning Code Amendment - Styrofoam Dock Flotation # '* >m-m As a result of complaints by lakeshore property owners and at the request of the Lake Use Committee, staff has drafted an ordinance providing for the elimination of non-encased bead type styrofoam used for dock flotation purposes. The problem with such material is that the styrofoam beads break off in chunks or individually from the styrofoam blocks, and float around the lake typically accumulating on the windward shorelines. This creates an aesthetic nuisance^ although the MPCA doesn't seem to think this creates any degradation of water quality. The proposed ordinance provides for a 3 year phase-out of unencased styrofoam used for docks. mIdst of Exhibits A - Proposed Ordinance Draft B - Letter from MPCA 4/10/92 , C - Product Literature on One Possible Alternative (This is not an endorsement) D'lscmssion The impetu ' for the proposed ordinance is the styrofoam bead accumulations wiwhich a number of lakeshore property owners have had to contend. Tb'. most visible sources have been fro Minnetonka Boat Works and Lakesid- Marina, with lesser amounts apparently coming from Windward Marina. The bead accumulations resulting in complaints have been mainly in Tanager Lake and the south shore of Maxwell Bay. There are likely a number of private docks also using styrofoam. h There are foam products on the market that are not formed from expanded polystyrene beads. Generally, these homogenous foams as urethane foam or isocyanurate foam, do not break down into individual beads or chunks of beads, and have not become apparent as a problem. Logic, then, suggests that styrofoam bead products either need to be eliminated from use or altered/encased to eliminate the litter problem. mm ■'M I* . ..f -rV . 4; 'v.